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Drunk passenger says their Uber was carjacked

A sign posted outside a large office building is seen from below.
An Uber passenger said in a Reddit post that their driver had nearly brought them home when they were rear-ended and then carjacked by men in ski masks. | Source: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Nights out drinking in San Francisco can lead to some unusual situations.

For one drunk San Franciscan, however, the night wasn’t over when they got in their Uber ride to go home.

The “wasted” passenger and their driver were carjacked in the Outer Sunset, the passenger said in post on Reddit. San Francisco police and Uber confirmed the incident to The Standard.

According to the passenger, the driver had nearly brought them home early Tuesday morning when they were rear-ended on 48th Avenue just south of Lincoln Way.

“3 men in ski masks got out and I didn’t see what they did to the driver but one opened the door and told me to get out,” they wrote in the post. “Being wasted and a block from home I just walked home. 20-30 minutes later a cop showed up to interview me.”

The passenger added their Uber app showed a 6.5-hour, $325 trip from San Francisco to Modesto. The passenger wrote that the carjackers had taken the driver’s phone with the car, but the driver told The Standard that he actually had his phone and left the ridesharing app open to show police where the passenger lived. The driver said he didn’t realize the trip was still active until after he returned home to Turlock, a city near Modesto.

“The police didn’t catch them,” the passenger said. “I wish I had been sober enough to hang out with the driver. I hope he’s alright and got his car back.”

The passenger did not respond to The Standard’s interview request, but the San Francisco Police Department confirmed parts of their account. Police described the incident as a carjacking and said a ride-share driver’s vehicle was bumped by another car around 12:45 a.m.

When the driver, who is 65, exited his vehicle to exchange information, several armed men rushed him and demanded his car and property, police said. The suspects stole the vehicle and fled. No injuries were reported, and no arrests have been made.

“What this driver and rider experienced is terrifying,” an Uber spokesperson said. “We have been in contact with both the rider and driver since the evening of the reported incident, and we stand ready to assist law enforcement however we can in their investigation.”

The passenger said they ultimately only paid $11.96 for the ride and tipped the driver $20.

Editor’s note: After this story published, the Uber driver contacted The Standard and said he did not leave his phone in his vehicle after the carjacking. He clarified that he left the ridesharing app open to show police where the passenger lived and didn’t realize the trip was still active until after he returned home to Turlock, a city near Modesto.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the Uber driver’s age. He is 65 years old.

George Kelly can be reached at gkelly@sfstandard.com