Rapist on the Loose, Says DA

By Georgina Brennan

AN accused rapist who preys on Irish women is on the loose in New York, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown as he launched a hunt for the man. The circumstances are eerily similar to the assaults carried out earlier this year by a separate cab driver in Queens.

Jaime Oliveira, 22, was due to appear in Queens Supreme Court on November 5 on charges of attacking two Irish women in Woodside in July and August 2000, but he failed to turn up and since then is nowhere to be found. 

Brown said that according to the charges the defendant, while driving a livery cab, sexually attacked two women in separate incidents in July and August 2000 after picking them up between 4 and 4:30 a.m. outside of different bars on Woodside Avenue in Woodside.

According to law enforcement officials, on July 9, 2000, the defendant is alleged to have picked up a 31-year-old woman from Toucan Tommie’s on Woodside Avenue and to have sexually assaulted her inside the vehicle near her home in a nearby Queens neighborhood. 

The victim told police that when she attempted to leave the back seat of the livery cab, her attacker kept the door locked and then got out of cab, came around to the passenger door, opened it and attacked her. The victim fought off her attacker, managed to flee the vehicle and run to a neighbor’s house and safety. The livery cab driver fled the scene.

On August 6, 2000, the defendant is alleged to have picked up a 25-year-old woman outside The Starting Gate pub, also on Woodside Avenue, and to have sexually assaulted her inside the vehicle in a deserted area near Jewel Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in Fresh Meadows. The victim told police that she had fallen asleep and woke as she was being raped. 

The victim fought off her attacker, fled from the livery cab and stopped a passerby who escorted her to the 107th Precinct on Parsons Boulevard. The livery cab driver fled the scene.

Brown said that the Special Victims Unit arrested Oliveira during a stakeout on August 22, 2000, about two weeks after the second attack. Oliveira was held without bail on charges of rape, sodomy, attempted rape, unlawful imprisonment and sexual abuse and kidnapping. He faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted. 

In March 2002 a bail of $150,000 was set and on October 21, 2003 Oliveira posted bail and was released to wait for trial. When he didn’t turn up for court two weeks ago a bench warrant for his arrest was issued.

Oliveira is described as white, Hispanic, of Bolivian heritage, five feet, nine inches in height, weighing 200 pounds with black wavy hair and brown eyes. Oliveira worked as a driver for the Santo Domingo car service in Corona and as a deliveryman for Domino’s Pizza in Jackson Heights.

“The defendant is an alleged sexual predator who, according to the charges, preyed upon helpless women, overpowered them and sexually attacked them inside a livery cab while he was supposed to be taking them to their homes. His employment as a livery cab driver gave him the opportunity and the means to come in contact with young female victims. The defendant is a threat to women and a fugitive from justice,” said Brown.