Cops: Girl, 14, claims she was sexually assaulted by her cab driver

A 14-year-old girl who hired a cab driver to take her from her grandmother's house in North Philadelphia to her parents' house in Juniata Park last night, claims the cabbie made an unthinkable detour when he parked on a dark street and sexually assaulted her, police said.

The girl told police that she called for a cab around 9:50 p.m. to pick her up at her grandmother's house on Sydenham Street near Venango, said Special Victims Unit Lt. Anthony McFadden.

While en route to her final destination on Luzerne Street near G, the girl claims that the cabbie pulled over on a dark street with few houses somewhere in Northeast Philadelphia and sexually assaulted her, police said. Authorities declined to detail the exact nature of the sexual assault.

Following the attack, the cabbie drove the girl to her destination and fled the scene, police said. It's not known whether he forced her to pay the cab fare.

Authorities were called by the girl's parents at around 12:10 a.m. today and she was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where a sexual assault kit was conducted, according to McFadden.

No arrest has yet been made in the case but McFadden said the suspect was described as a Hispanic male between 25 and 30 years old. He did not brandish a weapon during the alleged assault, police said.

Citing the ongoing investigation, which was well underway this morning, McFadden declined to disclose details such as whether the suspect was a legitimate or hack cabbie or whether the girl was riding in the front or back seat of the cab.