Photo: ABCNews.go.com
Just because the driver taking you to the airport is driving for a ridesharing company doesn’t mean you have to throw all caution out the window and blindly trust him. Be mindful of how much information you give out, or you could become a victim, too.
That’s the message from the San Mateo Police Department after the arrest of a Sacramento, California man who used his position with Uber to target potential victims. His M.O. consisted of driving riders to the airport and then returning to their homes to ransack them, knowing that they would be gone for at least a couple of days.
Jackie Gordon Wilson was on call on Friday, picking up a couple and taking them to the airport. One hour later, he returned to their home with the intent to burglarize it, but he was thwarted by an alarm. He then ransacked another empty house a couple of blocks off.
In both cases, his actions were caught on surveillance cameras, and the footage was shared on the Ring platform. When the victims in the second house hit shared the video, the owner of the first one came forward to identify him as an Uber driver. San Mateo Police did the rest of the work, arresting the man the next day at his home just outside Sacramento.
According to a press release from the PD, Wilson was still wearing the same clothes he had on when he broke into the house. Some of the goods he stole were recovered, but others he had already gotten rid off.
The victims tell ABC News that he took everything from money in the safe to a Holocaust-era heirloom, and turned everything in the house upside down.
Wilson has been charged with burglary, attempted burglary, and unlawfully obstructing, resisting or delaying a peace officer in the performance of their duty.
Police warn people using ride-sharing apps to never give out their real address, always check that the car, color, license plates and the driver fit the description offered by the app, always ask the driver who they’re waiting for before getting in, and never get into the car if their intuition tells them something’s off.
Jackie Gordon Wilson was on call on Friday, picking up a couple and taking them to the airport. One hour later, he returned to their home with the intent to burglarize it, but he was thwarted by an alarm. He then ransacked another empty house a couple of blocks off.
In both cases, his actions were caught on surveillance cameras, and the footage was shared on the Ring platform. When the victims in the second house hit shared the video, the owner of the first one came forward to identify him as an Uber driver. San Mateo Police did the rest of the work, arresting the man the next day at his home just outside Sacramento.
According to a press release from the PD, Wilson was still wearing the same clothes he had on when he broke into the house. Some of the goods he stole were recovered, but others he had already gotten rid off.
The victims tell ABC News that he took everything from money in the safe to a Holocaust-era heirloom, and turned everything in the house upside down.
Wilson has been charged with burglary, attempted burglary, and unlawfully obstructing, resisting or delaying a peace officer in the performance of their duty.
Police warn people using ride-sharing apps to never give out their real address, always check that the car, color, license plates and the driver fit the description offered by the app, always ask the driver who they’re waiting for before getting in, and never get into the car if their intuition tells them something’s off.
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