ST. LOUIS — A delivery driver for the online food ordering company DoorDash was arrested and charged Wednesday after police say he barged into a customer's apartment and sexually assaulted her earlier this week.
The St. Louis County Police Department announced Thursday that the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office issued charges against 23-year-old Travaye Gaines from Decatur, Illinois, for one first-degree count each of burglary, attempted rape and sexual misconduct, and one count of resisting arrest.
According to the probable cause statement, the victim told police that Gaines forced his way into her St. Louis County apartment after she ordered a food delivery on Tuesday. He allegedly removed the victim's towel and grabbed her breast.
She was able to get away from him and ran to her neighbors for help.
Gaines left the apartment building and then called the victim on Facetime from an unknown number, according to the probable cause statement. When the victim answered, she said it was Gaines masturbating.
Police contacted DoorDash to find out Gaines' whereabouts. They found him and pulled him over shortly after. When officers tried to take Gaines into custody, he maneuvered out of police handcuffs and tried to get back into his car and drive off, police said.
Police said he ignored the officers' commands to stop and repeatedly tried to shift the car into gear to drive away. Eventually, officers were able to arrest him.
Gaines is currently held on a $250,000 cash only, no 10% bond.
The allegations against Gaines are stunning to shoppers and neighbors. Some of them have a variety of opinions about ordering food from delivery services.
“My kids do it, but I really don’t like it. It’s showing people where you stay. It’s dangerous to me,” Angel Brooks said. “It’s just disturbing to hear (about the incident). I know it’s traumatizing."
“I don’t understand that kind of food purchasing. I’m from the old school and I just don’t like it,” Nora Grant said.
Mike Barbieri, a veteran security consultant, reminds customers to be vigilant when ordering from any delivery service.
“Let them drop the food off and let them go on their way. This way you have no contact with them because specifically, most DoorDash drivers will just leave the food there on the front porch," Barbieri said. "I would just tell people to use extra caution."
Julian Crowley, a spokesperson with DoorDash, provided the following statement regarding the incident:
"We are horrified by this appalling and disturbing incident. This is something that no one should ever have to endure, and we are here to support this survivor however we can. Our team continues to cooperate fully with law enforcement and we hope the perpetrator is fully held accountable for this heinous behavior."