A taxi driver from Spring Valley has been sentenced to six years in prison for strangling a woman he had picked up as a passenger, in a case that ended with a conviction after the victim managed to escape and summon help. The sentence closed out a prosecution built on the account of the woman who survived the attack.
Prosecutors identified the driver as 23-year-old Kevin Mazariago Figueroa. According to the case laid out by prosecutors, he had picked the woman up as a fare before the ride turned into an assault.
Investigators said that after picking her up, Mazariago Figueroa stopped in Spring Valley, where he restrained, assaulted and strangled the passenger. What should have been an ordinary taxi ride became a violent attack inside the vehicle.
Prosecutors said the woman suffered painful injuries in the assault, including bite marks and lacerations. The nature of those injuries underscored the violence of the attack she endured before she was able to get away.
Despite what she went through, the woman managed to break free and call for help. Her ability to escape and alert others was central to the case that investigators went on to build against the driver.
After the attack, the driver fled the scene. Police later tracked him down and found him in Ramapo, leading to the charges that have now resulted in the six-year prison sentence.
The case put a spotlight on the vulnerability of passengers who get into a vehicle alone with a driver, and it ended with Mazariago Figueroa held to account for the assault. For the woman who survived, the sentencing marked the conclusion of a case that began with a ride she could not have expected to turn violent.