Uber driver gets year in jail for groping passenger

A former driver for two popular ride-sharing services was sentenced Thursday to a year in jail and three years probation after he admitted exposing himself to one female passenger and groping another during rides in North County earlier this year.

Vista Superior Court Judge Michael Popkins also ordered Jeremy George Vague, 37, to register as a sex offender for the incidents, one of which was made public when Vague was arrested in September. That arrest prompted other women to come forward with accusations.

On Dec. 1, the San Marcos man pleaded guilty to a felony count of false imprisonment as well as to two misdemeanor charges — sexual battery and indecent exposure. The misdemeanors are the two offenses that landed Vague on the sex-offender registry.

During Thursday’s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Katherine Flaherty called Vague “a sexual predator and an opportunist.”

Defense attorney Sean Leslie told the judge that Vague — a married father of two — was ashamed and remorseful for his actions, and was taking “full responsibility.”

“He’s crying as we speak,” Leslie said as he looked at his client. “He is so ashamed of what he has done.”

Popkins said he took the case “very seriously” and that Vague “took advantage of young girls.” However, he said, jail was more appropriate than prison.

“I decided the case was an opportunity for Mr. Vague to be supervised on felony probation,” Popkins said.

Vague’s guilty plea came relatively early in the case, before the preliminary hearing in which prosecutors lay out their allegations and present evidence. The plea spared the victims from testifying — and that played a role in Popkins’ decision to sentence Vague to jail and probation.

The judge also noted Vague’s negligible criminal record — a misdemeanor linked to a theft in his college years — as well as Vague’s remorse.

The false imprisonment and lewd conduct charges were related to an 18-year-old Palomar College student whose complaint started the investigation. The sexual battery charge was linked to a second victim, a 24-year-old woman who came forward after seeing news reports.

The 18-year-old used the Uber ride-share app to request a ride from the Palomar campus to her residence in Escondido. Prosecutor Flaherty said that, instead of taking the passenger directly home, Vague turned off the Uber app and drove his blue minivan down a side street. The victim grew suspicious and started texting friends. The prosecutor said that Vague tried to convince the young woman to take off her shirt, and also exposed himself as she sat in the front passenger seat.

Police arrested the 7-foot-tall, 270-pound Vague at his home later that evening.

During the ensuing investigation, detectives learned that on Sept. 3, two women who had been drinking sought a ride home through Uber. During the ride, Flaherty said, the defendant groped one of them. Then he helped carry the heavily intoxicated woman into the home, and took her shirt off while her friend was distracted. When the friend discovered what had happened, she ordered Vague out of the home.

That incident led to the sexual battery charge.

Although charges were not brought in other instances, a number of other complaints came to light from people who encountered Vague as a driver or as a basketball and volleyball coach, Flaherty said. The word that kept coming up, she said, was “creepy.”

Among them was an incident on Sept. 6, when Vague reportedly approached a female student on the Palomar campus and tried to talk her into getting into his van. She refused and reported the incident to campus police. They later contacted Vague and told him not to return to campus, according to Escondido police Lt. Justin Murphy.

The next day, while working for Lyft, Vague gave a 19-year-old woman a ride. Upon arriving, he asked the woman and her friend to take a picture with him, then touched them inappropriately as they posed, Murphy said.

Following his arrest, Uber and Lyft banned Vague from working for them, according to statements from the two companies. On Thursday, Uber declined further comment on the matter, and Lyft said it worked with law enforcement on the investigation.

During the sentencing hearing, defense attorney Leslie said his client made roughly $1,800 a month as a driver, and that his Uber rating was 4.94 out of 5 stars.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Vague played basketball for two seasons — 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 — at Utah State University. The Associated Press reported that Vague pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of vehicle burglary in Utah stemming from a July 2002 incident involving the theft of golf clubs.

In North County, Vague spent at least five years coaching the girls’ basketball team at Calvin Christian High School, but an administrator said after his arrest that he was no longer associated with the school.

In custody since his arrest, Vague has served more than half his jail sentence and is likely to be released in less than three months. He will be on probation until December 2019.

The victims did not attend the hearing. Vague’s wife, parents and other supporters attended, but declined comment afterward.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT