Palo Alto Uber driver arrested, accused of groping pasenger

Pedro Liborio-Anorve (Photo: Police)

PALO ALTO (KTVU) -- A driver for the Uber ride sharing service was arrested last weekend after he allegedly inappropriately touched her before trying to return her home, police said Tuesday.

Pedro Liborio-Anorve, 35, of Redwood City, was arrested without incident at his home in the 3400 block of Michael Drive just before 4 a.m., police said in a written statement.

He was booked into the Santa Clara County jail on a felony sexual battery charge and a misdemeanor charge of stalking. It was not immediately clear Tuesday evening if he had posted bail.

Police said emergency workers received a call shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2016 of a sex crime that had occurred at a home in the area of Los Trancos and Alpine roads.

Police said a woman in her 40s and her husband had taken an Uber ride before being dropped off at their home just after 11 p.m.  Investigators said the couple had left a cell phone in the vehicle and called the Uber driver to ask him to return it.

When he arrived, the victim went outside to retrieve the phone. After returning the phone, police say the man kissed the woman and then groped her breast. The victim pushed the suspect away and ran back inside the home before calling Uber to report the incident.

Investigators say the suspect called the woman about an hour later, saying he was outside her home. She told him to go away and immediately called the police. The man had left the area by the time police arrived.

Uber spokeswoman Tracey Breeden said in a statement that Liborio-Anorve has been banned from using the ride-booking company.

"This behavior is described as disturbing and is not tolerated on the Uber platform," Breeden said. "We have been working in cooperation with police and will continue to assist with the investigation."

Anyone with information about this incident was asked to call police at 650-329-2413 or email an anonymous tips paloalto@tipnow.org.

Bay City News contributed to this report.