SF woman who hailed ride found beaten, sexually assaulted

SONOMA, Calif. (KGO) -- A terrifying story out of Sonoma County. Investigators say a 24-year-old woman from San Francisco was beaten and sexually assaulted after entering a car she thought was part of a ride-sharing service. It was in front of the Safeway in Sonoma where she was spotted walking alone just before 5 a.m. Saturday.

"She had visible injuries on her face and neck and she was walking without any shoes on and the employee at Safeway stopped and asked her if she was okay. She said she wasn't, that she had just been sexually assaulted and so he took her into Safeway to get her some help," said Sgt. Spencer Crum of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.

Not much has been released on the men's descriptions, but the victim told investigators the two men were speaking to each other in a language she didn't understand. They had picked her up hours earlier in front of Bruno's in San Francisco's Mission District where the victim believed the car she was entering was the one she ordered on a ride sharing app. Turned out, it wasn't.

"We don't know if this was a crime of opportunity or people trolling around posing to be an Uber or Lyft driver trying to look for people during closing time and if they can trick someone into getting into their car," said Sgt. Crum.

Ride-sharing customers we talked with say this incident is a reminder to take precautions.

"I have them give me my name. So if they don't know my name then obviously they're not picking me up," said one customer.

"I always look at the last few numbers or letters of the license plate to make sure that I'm getting into the right car," said another.

The victim is missing her black boots, ID and cell phone. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department at (707) 565-2511.