Following a reported sexual assault in Bridgeport early Sunday morning involving a rideshare service, Quinnipiac University Public Safety Chief Tony Reyes urged students to practice safety in a campus-wide email.
“According to police, the suspect is believed to have been operating as a rideshare driver at the time of the alleged assault,” Reyes wrote.
The incident did not involve anyone from Quinnipiac, however Reyes shared the suspect’s physical description and vehicle information with students to raise awareness in the event that the driver enters campus.
“There was no danger to our campus,” Reyes said to The Chronicle. “I like providing information to our community on anything that could impact them.”
The suspect is described as a Black male operating a rideshare vehicle — a 2020 Kia Sportage with the license plate BX-11957 registered in Waterbury. There are no other identifying details at the time of publication.
“Uber drivers can go anywhere,” Reyes said. “We want to make sure that students that use rideshare services are aware of that particular plate and that vehicle in case it’s a driver that does come to our campus to provide service.”
Reyes urged anyone with information related to the incident to contact the Bridgeport Police Department.
Public Safety is in communication with local law enforcement and will be looking out for the vehicle, along with using the school’s license plate readers. When a plate number is entered into the system, Public Safety is notified whenever said vehicle enters campus.
While Public Safety takes precautions on campus, Reyes noted that students must be “prudent” as well. This includes things like confirming the driver matches who is registered on the app, confirming the plate and remaining aware during the ride.
In his email, Reyes reminded students of the safety measures — in addition to confirming the driver — they should be taking when using those services, like Uber or Lyft.
“Share your trip details with a trusted friend or family member… Sit in the back seat and remain aware of your surroundings… If something feels unsafe, trust your instincts and exit the situation if possible,” Reyes wrote.
For some students, the email came as a surprise as the topic is not frequently discussed on campus.
“I wasn’t really expecting it for Uber, because you don’t really hear much about that here,” sophomore marketing major Ashley Witkowski said.
Witkowski notes that both students and Public Safety should be responsible for practicing safety in regard to rideshare services.
“I think students should probably be more aware…But then Public Safety should also be on it with seeing who is allowed into the campus as well,” Witkowski said.
In the fall, Quinnipiac updated its designated rideshare pick up/drop off location. Students were told to only send drivers to the North Lot because each vehicle must enter through a gate monitored by Public Safety.
“That way they’re being picked up and dropped off inside of our campus, as opposed to on the street,” Reyes said. “As opposed to somewhere on Mount Carmel (Ave.), you know, some area that does not have as much presence and there are no officers.”
This is not the first incident in a rideshare service by far. Recently Uber in particular, has been under fire for the revealed thousands of reported incidents.
In August 2025, The New York Times reporter Emily Steel uncovered that between 2017 and 2022 “a total of 400,181 Uber trips resulted in reports of sexual assault and sexual misconduct in the United States.”
Uber’s 2021-22 Annual Safety Report is the most recent report available.
Before Steel’s investigation, Uber disclosed 12,522 accounts of serious sexual assaults in that time frame. On average, “Uber received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the U.S. almost every eight minutes,” according to Steel.
The investigation led to the launch of the New York Times’ “Every 8 Minutes” campaign, spearheaded by Steel, aimed to draw attention to sexual assaults during Uber services.
In addition to Uber, students also commonly use the rideshare service Lyft. In their most recent report, detailing 2021-22, there were “2,651 instances of the five most serious categories of sexual assault — a 21% decrease in incident frequency rate from our previous report.”
All this to say, that as rideshare services are commonly used by Quinnipiac students, Reyes reminds them that safety measures must be taken while using those services. Students are encouraged to take precaution, stay alert and trust their instincts.
“Take any measures to get yourself out of that situation as soon as you can,” Reyes said.
