‘Someone trying to make a living’: Another rideshare driver carjacked in Baltimore
BALTIMORE — Another Baltimore rideshare driver was the victim of a violent auto theft early Monday.
Police say the Uber driver picked up four passengers at the 4900 block of Erdman Avenue in northeast Baltimore and told them to go to the 2300 block of Terra Firma Road in the Cherry Hill neighborhood, about nine miles away.
Three of the passengers got out, but the rideshare driver was forced to go to the 2900 block of Southland Avenue and was then ordered to get out of his car at gunpoint.
“How would you feel if one of your loved ones got in their car and someone held them at gunpoint and they took their car away from them,” said Frank, who lives in the Cherry Hill neighborhood.
It is the latest in a string of violent rideshare robberies.
There were at least 40 rides since November in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
Rideshare drivers have also been targeted in other cities.
“That’s crazy. Someone who’s trying to make a living, and the first thing you think is, ‘Oh, we’re going to take his car,'” Frank said.
Last week, the Baltimore Police Department told the City Council that there had been 28 auto thefts so far this year.
When it comes to ridesharing, police have warned passengers to match the driver with their picture on the app, as criminals often steal the driver’s phone as well as the vehicle and continue to pick up and rob passengers.
In Baltimore, many of the suspects are minors.
In 2022, suspects between the ages of 10 and 17 committed 85 carjackings in Baltimore City.
The Uber car heist in Cherry Hill follows a violent weekend, including an incident in West Baltimore that left a woman dead was shot while driving and fell, injuring two children– a 3 year old and a 2 month old child.
“Homicides and shootings are down 25 percent compared to last year. Arrests with firearms have increased,” Mayor Brandon Scott said Monday morning. “We’re going to go out there and hunt down these people who are doing this. But we’re not going to fall into those traps — every time someone cowardly decides to do an individual act of shooting someone — that, ‘Oh, it’s the whole police fault, or oh, it’s Safe’s fault street.”
You can report tips about Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-Lockup, and you can remain anonymous.
Mike Hellgren
