Uber driver confesses to woman’s kidnapping in Miami Beach and rape near Miami Lakes, records show

Miami-Dade deputies arrested Yusel Perez-Leyva on June 18 in Doral and corrections booked him on June 19 at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he remained on Monday without bond.

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — After waking up in a hospital, a woman said she remembered going out on June 3 and walking out of a nightclub on June 4 in Miami Beach, records show.

The woman talked to Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office detectives after she woke up in pain at the HCA Florida Palm Lakes Emergency in Hialeah, records show.

“She believes that she was drugged ... as a result, she blacked out and only remembers walking out of the local night club ... she believes she was raped,” a MDSO deputy wrote, according to an arrest report.

Detectives reported finding surveillance video showing Yusel Perez-Leyva "carrying" the woman to his apartment at 7220 NW 179th St., near Miami Lakes.

Detectives detained Perez-Leyva, 42, on June 18 and took him to the special victims’ bureau in Doral for questioning, records show.

Perez-Leyva told detectives that he was working as an Uber driver when he picked up the woman in Miami Beach, according to the deputies’ report.

Perez-Leyva confessed to deputies that he had been “engaging” in “sexual intercourse with the intoxicated victim,” a deputy wrote, according to the report.

Detectives arrested Perez-Leyva shortly after 5 p.m. on June 18 in Doral, and corrections booked him at 1:10 a.m. on June 19 at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, records show.

Perez-Leyva appeared in bond court on June 20, a judge ordered him to stay away from the victim, denied him bail, and ordered his pre-trial detention, according to court records.

Perez-Leyva faced two first-degree felony charges: Kidnapping punishable by life, and sexual battery on a physically incapacitated or helpless victim.

Perez-Leyva, who was born in Cuba, also has a hold by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the arrest report and court records.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Alberto Milian was set to preside over the case. Perez-Leyva’s arraignment is at 9:30 a.m. on July 9.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Carson Merlo contributed to this report.

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Andrea Torres

Andrea Torres

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.