Yuma woman alleges she was sexually assaulted in a cab

Editor’s Note (Sept. 10): To clarify, this case is not closed. The Yuma County Attorney’s Office is asking law enforcement for more evidence and if that happens, charges would be filed.

Editor’s Note (Sept. 07): This case has been closed because no charges were filed. KYMA has spoken to Buchanan’s Transportation and they said they take measures to ensure they are hiring people that will keep their client’s safe.

Adelaida Buchanan explained how they handled the situation they were presented with.

“We got a call from this person who said he was brothers with the lady and asked what we were going to do with the driver and we told him we would fire him and they said that was ok. But I think later they decided to contact the police,” said Adelaida Buchanan.

Original Story

One Yuma woman alleges she was sexually assaulted on August 24 by a cab driver she said is no longer behind bars.

Tiffanie Uncangco claimed that during a two-stop ride she requested from Buchanan Transportation, the driver touched her inappropriately. The man also claimed he was a shaman that could cure her of her illnesses.

“He said he could heal me because he had super sperm because he was a shaman. That all I needed to do was have this therapy session with him and that my husband could be there. That was what he said originally,” said Uncangco.

Uncangco claimed the cab driver who was booked into Yuma County Detention Center on August 26, is her abuser.

Uncangco explained what she said happened while she boarded the cab for her second stop.

“I went to open the back door to where I was sitting originally and it wouldn’t open. Then I see him push the front door open, of the van, and I told him ‘No, it’s okay. I’ll sit in the back. I’ll just continue to sit in the back.’ He said ‘No. You can sit in the front. I have things I need to put back there,'” said Uncangco.

She claimed the driver’s entire demeanor changed and that she denied his advances.

Then she claims he touched her inappropriately.

“I pushed his arm away. I’m like what are you doing? He’s telling me all these sexual things over and over again like he didn’t have any self-control over his words. It was what he wanted to do to me, how he was going to do it. That he could do it right now,” said Uncangco.

She claimed that after her stop at the library, the driver showed up at her home and spoke to her husband about the situation, which was recorded.

Following the incident, Uncangco showed News 11 medical documentation that she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety.

Uncangco has also filed a report with Yuma police.

News 11 reached out to Buchanan Transportation for comment but was told the manager was out of town. We will be following up for their side of the story.

If you would like to donate to Uncangco’s family’s moving expenses, click here.