BERNE — A taxi driver arrested for forcing himself on a customer pleaded guilty in Berne Town Court on Sept. 9 to third-degree assault.

Umair Saleem, 30, of Clifton Park was arrested for forcible touching and unlawful imprisonment, both misdemeanors, after a customer told police he touched her breasts without consent and then a week later responded to a taxi request from her.

Saleem first denied the report of touching to police, but, at the end of the conversation, said, “Sorry, officer, it will not happen again,” according to the arrest report.

The resulting charge in Saleem’s sentence was not a crime involving moral turpitude, Jeffrey Richards, Saleem’s attorney and an Albany County assistant public defender, noted when he, Saleem, and Saleem’s wife appeared before Judge Albert Raymond this month. A conviction of such a crime could have consequences for a visa or a green card.

Richards refused to tell The Enterprise where Saleem holds citizenship and Saleem declined to comment after the sentencing. Though the arrest report says Saleem was born in Ontario, Canada and is a United States citizen, Richards said his client is not a U.S. citizen and sought to protect his immigration status.

The sentence — which cost Saleem $405 in a fine and state surcharge, in addition to a $50 fee for his DNA sample — was for a level of assault that involves recklessly causing physical injury to another person, a class A misdemeanor. He is to stay away from the complainant according to a five-year order of protection.

“My client is not a person of means. He does have a minor child, as well,” Richards told the judge, suggesting a modest fine. Saleem used a credit card to satisfy the sentence before leaving court.

According to the customer who filed a complaint with police, Saleem was driving her in his taxi in late April when he arrived at her Berne home, went into the backseat, and touched her breasts without her consent, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office arrest report says.

She forced her way out of Saleem’s taxi after she told him to leave and he did not, the arrest report says of her account. She told police she didn’t want a report or charges filed, but asked that they speak with Saleem, the report says; Saleem said it wouldn’t happen again.

About a week later, the complainant called the sheriff’s deputy and said she wanted to press charges after Saleem had been calling and texting her, saying he was driving to her after she placed a request for a Medicaid taxi.

Police took statements from Saleem and the woman. Saleem said he had a transportation request for the residence and did not know he wasn’t wanted there, according to the arrest report.

Taxi services typically use customers’ phone numbers in order to coordinate pickup.

Saleem, now 30, was 29 at the time of the arrest, the report says.

— Marcello Iaia