Bail increased to $250,000 for Uber driver accused of sexual assault
Bail for Talal Ali Chammout, 56, was increased at a morning hearing from $100,000 to $250,000, according to court records.
Chammout’s attorney filed a motion last Friday to lower Chammout’s bail, claiming it was excessive.
But on Monday, prosecutors filed a motion asking Judge Gracie Lewis to increase the amount because of the seriousness of the sexual assault charge and his previous convictions for an assault and a federal weapons charge.
In addition to the increased bail, the judge also said that upon Chammout’s release, he must surrender his passport and not possess any firearms or weapons. According to court records, Chammout was born in Lebanon.
He also must not have any contact with the victim, cannot leave the state without court permission and cannot act as a driver or provide any transportation, court records show.
Chammout was arrested last week after police said he picked up a woman about 8 p.m. July 25 in Oak Lawn and drove her to her home in west Oak Cliff.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the woman told police Chammout followed her inside, and she asked him to leave. She said she later lost consciousness and when she came to, he was on top of her. She said “her vision was cloudy and her ears were ringing.” According to the affidavit, she passed in and out of consciousness and when she woke up the next morning she was naked and had “a large bump on the back of her head and scrapes on her knees.”
She also told police that after the assault she began receiving several texts and calls from an unknown number. She said she did a Google search and found the number belonged to a limousine company owned by Talal Chammout, the affidavit said.
She was able to identify Chammout as the person who attacked her, the documents said.
Uber said Wednesday that the company is still investigating how Chammout was given access to its system by using a fake city permit.
Dallas
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