From the Dallas Morning News

Uber and the city of Dallas disagreed Saturday on whether a driver for the ride-sharing service who is accused of sexually assaulting a passenger in west Oak Cliff a week ago was allowed to drive for the company in Dallas.

Meanwhile, court records show that the driver, 56-year-old Talal Ali Chammout of Plano, in recent years served time in federal prison for being a felon in possession of dozens of guns.

Uber spokeswoman Jennifer Mullin said the company has Chammout’s license on file. But city spokeswoman Sana Syed said he is not in the city’s system.

Chammout picked up a woman about 8 p.m. July 25 in Oak Lawn and drove her to her home near Fort Worth Avenue and Hampton Road, Dallas police said. He is accused of raping her there after following her inside.

Chammout was arrested Wednesday. He remained in the Dallas County Jail on Saturday in lieu of $100,000 bail.

His attorney, listed in jail records as Stephen Miller, did not respond to calls seeking comment.

“We take these reports seriously, and our thoughts are with the victim,” Mullin said. “The driver was immediately banned once we learned of the allegations, and Uber’s safety team is working with the Dallas Police Department on their investigation.”

Syed said this is the first sexual assault allegation against an Uber driver in Dallas.

Ride-booking drivers must pass background checks that include county, federal and multistate records. Dallas also requires them to pass another background check before getting a permit to operate in the city.

“This driver was licensed by the city of Dallas as a livery driver,” Mullin said in an emailed statement. “We have his Dallas limo license on file, and it expires June 15, 2016.”

Syed disagreed. Chammout is listed as a contact for a woman who has the same last name and owns a limousine company, but he never applied to the city to be an Uber driver, she said.

“He didn’t go through our system to get vetted,” Syed said. “We have no record of him applying to be a driver. He’s not in our system, period.”

Syed said the city is waiting on Dallas police to finish their investigation of the alleged rape.

“If we have a driver who is somehow able to get behind the wheel and pose as an Uber driver, then Uber has to explain why he was able to pick someone up and execute a sale,” Syed said.

Even if Chammout did apply for a permit to operate in Dallas, it seems unlikely he would have met the city’s requirements.

The city can issue permits to drivers convicted of certain felonies — such as homicide, assault, kidnapping and unlawful carry or transfer of a weapon — only if more than five years has passed since they were convicted or released from custody.

Chammout wasn’t released from prison until August 2012 on the federal weapons charges. That case originated with a long investigation that led to his being accused in 2006 of conspiring to possess stolen U.S. military weaponry, court records show.

Chammout, who already had a 1995 assault conviction, was charged during the weaponry investigation with being a felon in possession of firearms after the FBI found at least 40 guns during a raid of his business.

As part of a plea deal reached in 2007, the charge of conspiracy to possess stolen government property was dropped, and Chammout was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison, according to the Porterville Recorder in Porterville, Calif., where he lived at the time.

The government said Chammout possessed weapons and equipment that he believed had been stolen from the government. According to the indictment, he bought night-vision goggles, chemical-protection suits, ballistic vests and body armor from a witness who was working with federal authorities.

Chammout also asked whether he could obtain stolen rocket launchers, the indictment states. Authorities said he also tried to obtain technical details about anti-weapon and surface-to-air missiles.

The government believed Chammout wanted to sell the weaponry to groups in nations such as Syria, Iraq and Jordan, the Recorder reported. His attorney at the time denied Chammout was involved in terroristic activities.

Chammout emigrated from Lebanon to Dearborn, Mich., before he moved to California and bought a petroleum distributorship in Porterville, records show.

In January 2014, he was arrested in Dallas County on a prostitution charge. That case recently was dismissed.

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