| Taxi Driver Online http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/ |
|
| Uber driver ruined Merseyside's man Xmas http://www.taxi-driver.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=41093 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | Sussex [ Mon Jan 06, 2025 9:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Uber driver ruined Merseyside's man Xmas |
Dad says Uber driver drove off with his £1,000 in cash then cancelled the trip https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... y-30696674 A dad said his Christmas was ruined after an Uber driver allegedly drove off with his backpack containing a large amount of cash. On Christmas Day afternoon, Jamie Worthington, 35, from Stockbridge Village, took an Uber from his girlfriend's home in St Helens to Huyton to drop off his eight-year-old daughter at her mum's house. A few minutes into the journey, Jamie amended the trip on the Uber app to add a second stop - which meant he would return to St Helens with the driver once his little girl had been dropped off. The driver accepted the request to amend the trip, agreeing to drive him back to St Helens. When they arrived at the address in Huyton, Jamie got out of the car and reportedly told the driver, "I'll just be two seconds - my bag's on the back seat". He left the passenger door wide open, collected some gifts from the boot of the car, then walked his daughter to her front door. It was quite clear, he claims, that he intended to return to the car. But when he arrived at the front door, Jamie was heartbroken to see the driver driver off with his possessions in tow. Speaking to the ECHO, Jamie said: "I entered the hallway of the house to put the gifts I had inside. Then the driver got out of his seat, closed the passenger door and drove off with my bag. I ran out and tried to catch him but he was too far." Within seconds, the driver allegedly cancelled the ride on the app. Panic set in as Jamie realised his bag was gone. Inside the backpack were his work keys, medication, headphones - and £1,000 in cash. Over the previous weeks, he had been saving up money by selling items of furniture in advance of moving in with his girlfriend. He said: "I had to sell stuff to get the money. I wasn't so worried about the cost of Christmas because I had the money to fall back on. I thought, at least I've got that. I was relying on repaying my Christmas spending on my card with that money." Within moments of the driver leaving the scene, Jamie received a message from Uber saying, "Your trip with us ended early - can you say why?". Stunned by the driver's disappearance, Jamie stood in the street for nearly two hours hoping he would return. "I didn't want to move," he said, "just in case he came back." Jamie immediately called Uber as he could no longer contact the driver directly in the app. Uber told Jamie the driver wasn't responding, then reportedly sent an automated message telling him his bag hadn't been found. Jamie says the ordeal "ruined his Christmas" as he spent what was meant to be a nice family day trying to get his bag back. He told us: "I went to my girlfriend's mum's house but spent the whole day trying to get a response from Uber. I was supposed to be going round to see my family, but I was arguing on the phone with Uber instead." He added: "If I just accidently left my bag in a taxi at the end of a trip I would accept more of the blame. But this driver cancelled my trip and drove away from me. I thought my belongings were safe." Jamie is calling on Uber to "take some responsibility" and suggests the firm should have cameras fitted in their cars "as standard". The ECHO repeatedly contacted Uber for comment on the incident, but we did not receive a response. Merseyside Police confirmed an inquiry has been launched into the incident. A spokesperson for the force said: "We can confirm an investigation has been launched after a report a private hire taxi was driven away with a customer’s bag containing cash on Christmas Day. "Just before 5pm, police were called to a report the taxi driver had driven away after making a stop for the passenger, and then cancelled the second part of the journey. The customer had booked a journey from St Helens to Huyton and had planned to return to St Helens before the vehicle was driven away. "The bag, which has not been returned or recovered, was reported to contain items including a quantity of cash, keys, medication and headphones. Enquiries into the incident are ongoing. "If you have any information on this incident, you can call 101 or DM @MerPolCC on social media, quoting reference number 24001079788. You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111." |
|
| Author: | edders23 [ Tue Jan 07, 2025 8:55 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Uber driver ruined Merseyside's man Xmas |
I presume the police should easily track down the driver ? I do wonder though if there isn't another element to this such as the driver having a death in the fanily. In islamic culture if you receive a phone call saying someone has died the expectation is to drop everything and immediately drive to the house of the deceased. Even a plea to just finish the job they are on now and then you'll manage without them is met with a resounding no ! |
|
| Author: | jimbo [ Tue Jan 07, 2025 11:26 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Uber driver ruined Merseyside's man Xmas |
edders23 wrote: I presume the police should easily track down the driver ? I do wonder though if there isn't another element to this such as the driver having a death in the fanily. In islamic culture if you receive a phone call saying someone has died the expectation is to drop everything and immediately drive to the house of the deceased. Even a plea to just finish the job they are on now and then you'll manage without them is met with a resounding no ! Nice of you to make excuses for a thieving Uber driver. |
|
| Author: | StuartW [ Tue Jan 07, 2025 7:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Uber driver ruined Merseyside's man Xmas |
Would certainly guess there's more to this than meets the eye - maybe some kind of disagreement?  I mean, as a driver you'd guess the average backpack had nothing of value in it, so why try to thieve it, particularly as your identity is easily ascertained? |
|
| Author: | Sussex [ Tue Jan 07, 2025 8:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Uber driver ruined Merseyside's man Xmas |
I wonder if the driver thought he was on a drugs run. But if that was the case he should have contacted the police straight away. Maybe he did.  The biggest red flag for me is the amount of cash the fella had.
|
|
| Author: | StuartW [ Tue Jan 07, 2025 8:25 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Uber driver ruined Merseyside's man Xmas |
You certainly wouldn't assume a backpack contained £1,000 in cash, and therefore maybe worth taking off... And assuming it was a late-night HC doing a street booking with a drunk who told him there was £1k in the backpack, you could certainly believe what happened But not an easily traceable car in the afternoon with someone sober, even if the driver was aware there was £1k in the backpack... But yes, Sussex, something doesn't add up, and would be interesting to know what the driver tells the police... (And, as for the drugs, I'm assuming the driver didn't know about the cash in the backpack, thus wouldn't suspect drugs, but who knows?) |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC [ DST ] |
| Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|