It seems every week we’re reporting on ride-share drivers accused of mistreating the passengers they’re hired to take from point A to B, and this week is no different: an Uber driver in Massachusetts has been accused of stealing from an elderly disabled woman and assaulting her in the process.
Prosecutors say a 21-year-old man went to an elderly woman’s house to pick her up on Monday night in Malden, reports CBS Boston, though she hadn’t hailed him through the Uber app. Instead, she told police, she’d called him directly because he’d given her rides before.
He said he had to use the bathroom, and went inside her home. When he came out, he allegedly said to her, “Sorry, I’m going to have to take this,” snatching her handbag and a bag of medicine, WHDH.com reports.
The bag contained several hundred dollars and credit cards, she said. When she tried stop him, police said he assaulted her by shoving her. He was arrested on Tuesday and arraigned on charges of assault and battery on a person over 60 years old and larceny over $250. He’s also been ordered to stay away from the victim and is barred from driving for hire in the state.
We’ve reached out to Uber for comment and will update this story when we hear back.
In just the month of August, we’ve had reports of a Uber drivers accused of raping passengers in Atlanta and in a Boston suburb, and a Los Angeles driver accused of sexually assaulting female passenger after he’d dropped her at her destination.
Uber Driver Accused Of Stealing From Disabled Woman [CBS Boston]
Uber driver accused of robbing and assaulting passenger in Malden [WHDH.com]
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist