An Uber ride took a wild turn in Central Texas when a passenger allegedly hijacked the driver’s car and wallet, later splurging on store items with the stolen credit card. Neusha Alexandra Afkami, 27, reportedly commandeered the 2016 Chevrolet Cruz after chucking the Uber driver’s phone out the window and driving to Austin airport, where she was later arrested, as per CBS Austin.
According to the arrest affidavit, the drama unfolded in the early hours of December 10 when the Uber driver was arguing with Afkami about the slow pace to the airport. She seized the driver’s phone while arguing, throwing it out of the window, prompting the driver to exit the car to retrieve it, as detailed in FOX 7 Austin.
While Uber is committed to enhancing the safety of its platform, incidents like these raise the question of whether enough is being done. "They need to be held accountable by legislators and by jurors," Brogdon said, according to FOX 7 Austin.
Uber’s 2019–20 safety report states that 99% of all rides are completed without incident, but the company acknowledges that assaults did result in 20 fatalities during this period, as stated in FOX 7 Austin.
