Trial begins for man accused of posing as Uber driver, attempting to sexually assault woman

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa jury heard evidence Tuesday against the man accused of pretending to be an Uber driver to kidnap a 26-year-old woman and attempting to sexually assault her. 

Prosecutors said defendant Gary Pyrus was accused after the incident on July 4, 2020. The woman was drinking alcohol and celebrating the Fourth of July with friends at The Patio Bar in South Tampa, according to prosecutors.  

The accuser remembered requesting an Uber ride around 2 a.m., and a driver calling her name outside the bar. Believing it was her Uber ride she got in the front passenger seat, but quickly realized she was in trouble when he pulled into an empty parking lot.

"I wasn't let out that’s when my heart started racing, I got really scared," she recalled.

The woman claimed that’s when things took an ugly turn. 

"I was violently grabbed and put in the back seat. I could not stop screaming," she said.

The woman claimed that’s when Pyrus attacked her, ripping her clothes off. She fought him off and was able to get away. Police report's previously stated the woman was raped, but during trial testimony it was revealed she was nearly raped. 

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The defense said the woman's story doesn't add up, claiming there is no record of her ever calling for an Uber ride. Defense attorney Brett Metcalf said surveillance video shows her walking, not running out of the car and then returning.

"And then stops turns and walks right back to him, you see she didn't just get into Gary Pyrus' car voluntarily once outside The Patio she did it twice," claimed Metcalf. 

He also pointed out the evidence that he said doesn't exist.

"Law enforcement found DNA of three people on her neck and chest, but it ain't Gary Pyrus," he argued.

Pyrus is charged with sexual battery, battery and kidnapping. Testimony in the case will continue Wednesday.