Rider Says Uber Driver Stole His iPhone, Threatened To Attack Him
LEIMERT PARK (CBSLA.com) — An Uber rider Monday warned others about a driver who he said attacked him and stole his iPhone.
CJ Yu said the bizarre episode began Saturday when he used Uber to get to a restaurant. After being dropped off, he realized he had left his iPhone in the Uber driver's car.
"We contacted the driver to see if he could meet us to return the phone. We were able to give him some cash. He said 'sure'," Yu recalled.
The driver came back to the restaurant and returned the lost phone. Yu requested a ride home and gave the driver a $40 reward for bringing back his phone.
Yu said as they approached home and he tried to hand the driver $40, the driver instantly became aggravated and complained that $40 was not enough because the phone was worth hundreds of dollars, Yu said the driver told him.
Yu said as he got out of the car and walked off, security video showed the driver grabbing a piece of stone, weighing about 40 pounds, and following Yu.
"I hear footsteps running behind me. I thought 'That's weird.' I looked behind me just in time to catch him about to lunge at me with a giant rock," Yu recounted.
Before walking off the frame of the camera, the driver was seen tossing the stone on a front lawn. Yu said the driver then snatched his phone right out his hand. "I'm running back chasing him, trying to get in the car. I tried pulling on the handle. Obviously, it's locked. As I am doing that, he races away and leaves the handle of the Toyota Corolla in my hand," Yu recalled.
"I felt like my life was in danger. I keep on watching the video back. It didn't hit me until I watched a few times and realized had I not turned around in that moment, he would have hit me," Yu remembered.
CBS2/KCAL9's Tom Wait reached out to the driver, who did not return his call.
Uber said the driver has been suspended.
