An unsettling incident at a Palm Springs daycare, involving an Uber driver and a six-month-old baby, has presented another sobering tale from the rideshare landscape. CBS12 reports that Nathan Velez, a 26-year-old Uber driver, is now facing a felony charge for allegedly taking off from the daycare with the baby inadvertently left in the backseat by the mother, who was at the time gathering her other child.
The mother alleged to the Palm Springs Police Department that she had only stepped away for a moment, leaving the rear passenger door open, when Velez drove away with her baby. Velez later informed the officers that he mistook the car seat for an item he was supposed to deliver, admitting to a "mistake on my part" for not checking the backseat. According to Velez, he was under the impression that he was transporting an empty car seat to a location provided by the app. The baby was returned to the mother approximately twenty minutes later after she contacted Velez, who is now charged with false imprisonment of a child under 13 years of age.
In a separate case, Palm Beach County has seen another legal transgression, this one involving the manipulation of state support systems. A local man, Jorge Colamarco, faces charges related to the deceitful extraction of funds from Florida’s Reemployment Assistance Program. WPBF reports that Colamarco allegedly falsely claimed to be unemployed, collecting $8,350 in assistance benefits while simultaneously making bank transactions indicating activity inconsistent with his unemployment claims.
The records presented by the investigators revealed multiple cash and Zelle deposits over $26,000, and a $28,500 Small Business Administration loan was received by Colamarco, running his business or working when he was supposed to be jobless. In all, he managed cash flows totaling more than $55,000 during the period he professed unemployment. Charges against him now include an organized scheme to defraud and reemployment assistance fraud, painting a portrait of an individual entangled in deceit at the system's expense.
