Killing Of Man Driving Car With Uber Decal Raises Security Concerns
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The murder of a man driving a car with an Uber decal has raised security concerns.
He was shot and killed at Griffin Avenue and North Broadway in Lincoln Heights early Tuesday morning.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the 35-year-old victim was not an Uber driver but had gang ties.
The Toyota he was driving had paper plates. And police will not reveal who owns the car or if the Uber sticker was fake. But they said bogus decals do exist.
Joy Young is an Uber rider. "That's a concern. I feel like there needs to be a way to regulate this," she said.
"It's not surprising to me. People usually try to find ways of going around the system," said Iilya Shimelfarb who is also an Uber rider
In fact, a quick search on Ebay reveals that it is easy to find and buy something similar to the Uber decals or even Lyft's pink mustaches.
According to Capt. Andrew Neiman of the LAPD, bogus drivers could show up to a crowded area, claiming to be your ride. "No different than other criminal activity where people are trying to (circumvent) regulations and try to make a quick buck," he said.
He said taxis are not immune to counterfeit city decals, either. For years, he worked on the city's Bandit Cab Task Force and sometimes saw them used as covers for drug deals.
Uber sent an email that read: "The core technology elements of how Uber works are intended to keep riders and drivers safe before, during and after the ride in ways that were never possible in for-hire transportation before."
The Uber or other ride-share apps should show the name, picture and license plate number of the driver. A rider should make sure the information on the apps matches the person and car doing the pickup.
