PANAMA CITY — A taxi driver who abducted two Spring Break visitors and attempted to force himself upon them has been sentenced to two years in prison and could face deportation for the crimes.
Edgar Eduardo Lopez-Jaramillo, 23, appeared Thursday with a translator for a change of plea hearing. Through the translator, he said he understood that accepting a plea of no contest to two counts of felony battery could lead to his deportation.
Jaramillo had been in jail since his arrest on charges of kidnapping and sexual battery stemming from two incidents in March 2014 involving spring breakers. He pleaded Thursday to two counts of felony battery and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Jaramillo was operating a taxi van in the area of Thomas Drive and Joan Avenue about 1:30 a.m. March 17 when he called to tell his boss at CK Taxi Cabs he was sick and needed to go home, according to Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigative reports.
About that time, a woman flagged down a taxi outside Club La Vela at 8813 Thomas Drive and asked to be taken to her hotel. The driver began to head in the wrong direction and told the woman it was to avoid traffic.
The woman offered all the money in her wallet for him to stop and drop her off, she told investigators, but the driver refused. He began touching her leg and her neck before he pulled onto Upas Drive, where she was able to jump out of the van, she said.
The driver forced her back into the van before stripping away her shorts and underwear. He then placed his hand between her legs and said, “You know you want this. You’ve wanted this all night,” the woman told investigators.
The driver again slowed, the woman grabbed her shorts and shoes and fled the area calling for help.
The victim described the taxi, the driver and the music playing in the van to authorities the following day. BCSO found the woman’s underwear on the roadside near Upas Drive, and found hair from the victim on the passenger seat and passenger door of the van operated by Jaramillo.
Investigators were struck by the similarity of an incident from a week earlier being worked by Panama City Beach Police. A victim reported she’d been picked up by a taxi van as she was trying to return to her condominium. The driver began to make sexually suggestive comments and pulled off into a secluded area. The victim repeatedly told the driver “no” as he removed her top and began to grope her, police reported.
At some point, the driver began traveling toward the victim’s condo but again pulled over and forced his hand down her pants, according to investigative reports. The victim later identified a photo of Jaramillo as the driver.
During an interview with investigators, Jaramillo admitted he had sexual contact with the woman, but he said it was consensual.
Jaramillo tried to have the women’s testimony omitted from the state’s case, but that request was denied.
The prison sentence of Jaramillo, a West Palm Beach resident, could be cut short since he could be subjected to deportation for the crimes. His taxi license also was revoked.