Holyoke Uber driver accused of assault fled house arrest but was recaptured Tuesday

BELCHERTOWN — A Holyoke Uber driver accused of indecent assault and battery on a female University of Massachusetts student last month escaped from his house arrest over the weekend, according to the Northwestern district attorney’s office. He was recaptured Tuesday in Holyoke.

An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Samuel Texidor, 18, after he removed the electronic bracelet designed to monitor him while he was under house arrest. An Eastern Hampshire District Court judge last week sentenced Texidor to house arrest following a dangerousness hearing last week.

“This weekend he apparently cut the GPS off,” said Mary Carey, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.

Carey also said that Texidor, previously reported to be posing as an Uber driver, was in fact a driver with Uber. Texidor lied about his age in order to qualify, Carey said. Uber drivers must be 21 or older, according to their website.

Holyoke Police Lt. Michael McCoy said Texidor was arrested on the warrant at 6:15 p.m. Tuesday on St. Kolbe Drive.

Carey said the prosecution had asked at the Sept. 26 dangerousness hearing that Texidor be held in jail, without the right to bail, but the judge determined that there were conditions that could be met to release Texidor while keeping the community safe.

In addition to the house arrest while wearing a GPS monitor, these conditions included staying away from and having no contact with the victim, staying away from Amherst and ceasing employment with Uber.

The original incident occurred Sept. 3 at 3;30 a.m. when Texidor allegedly approached a female UMass student off campus and identified himself as an Uber driver. Uber is the private taxi service in which drivers use their personal vehicles and riders hire drivers through a smartphone app.

He offered the victim a free ride from Townehouse Apartments to North Apartments, on campus, and when the vehicle arrived on campus allegedly committed the sexual assault.

Texidor was driving a 2014 Black Dodge Charger with Massachusetts registration plates 5SV875 at the time of that incident, as well as other similar incidents that continue to be investigated, according to UMass Police.

This story has been updated to include Texidor’s arrest and to confirm he was a driver for Uber.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.