A 32-year-old Foster City man who worked as a ride-hailing driver is behind bars after San Jose police say he sexually assaulted a juvenile male passenger during a trip through downtown San Jose. Detectives believe there could be additional victims and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
According to NBC Bay Area, San Jose police announced the arrest of Anuj Kumar after investigating a reported assault that happened one evening along the 100 block of Paseo de San Antonio, a stretch of downtown San Jose known for heavy foot traffic near San Jose State University. The area is a common spot for rideshare pickups and drop-offs, according to Local News Matters. The juvenile male survivor had been riding in a ride-booking vehicle at the time of the alleged assault, and the incident was reported to police later that same night.
Cameras Led Police to a Suspect
Investigators turned to San Jose’s network of automated license plate reader cameras to track down the vehicle involved, according to the station’s report. The technology, supplied in part by systems like those from Flock Safety, captures images of passing vehicles and feeds a searchable database that lets detectives trace a suspect car’s movements across city intersections, per shattered.io. That trail led authorities to identify Kumar as the suspect.
Kumar was arrested in Foster City on September 13 and booked into jail on suspicion of sexual assault of a minor, the outlet reported. Detectives with San Jose police believe there may be additional victims connected to Kumar and are urging anyone with information about this case or similar incidents to contact Detective Hoang by email at [email protected] or by phone at 408-277-4102.
Scrutiny Already Surrounds SJPD’s Camera Network
The department’s reliance on license plate readers comes as San Jose faces its own reckoning over how officers use the technology. San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph disclosed earlier in September that an SJPD officer was fired after misusing the city’s Flock ALPR system on a personal device to track a domestic violence victim, according to shattered.io, prompting the department to bar officers from accessing ALPR data on personal devices altogether. Civil rights groups including the ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have separately pushed back against San Jose’s camera network, arguing in a federal lawsuit that continuous municipal vehicle tracking raises constitutional privacy concerns.
What California Law Requires of Rideshare Drivers
California law imposes strict screening requirements on rideshare companies operating drivers like Kumar. Under state Public Utilities Code Section 5445.2, the California Public Utilities Commission requires transportation network companies to run annual criminal background checks through accredited screening agencies and check the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Sex Offender Public Website before drivers can carry passengers. A separate statute, Public Utilities Code Section 5444, requires rideshare platforms to enroll in the California DMV’s Employer Pull Notice program, which flags traffic convictions, license suspensions, or other driving record changes for active drivers…