Uber Driver Charged with First Degree Burglary on Riders Home

An Uber Drive from San Mateo, California has just been arrested. He reportedly picked up passengers from their home to take them to the airport, and then went back to their home afterward to break in.

Video surveillance on the doorbell camera shows the man slowly approaching a home and then running off the property as the homeowner’s security alarm went off. However, this Uber driver didn’t give up there, as he made his way down the street, a few blocks over to another passengers house. He managed to break into, trash and steal a number of valuable personal possessions from the passengers.

The Uber driver reportedly “tore the whole house apart, he tossed everything. Every piece of furniture was moved and he even opened the safe” says Scott, who lives in the house with his girlfriend, Chana.

Scott and Chana had not seen the Uber driver, as they had just returned to their home. It was their Airbnb guests who had taken the Uber to the airport.  

Chana had told KGO, a commercial AM radio station in San Francisco, California that the Uber driver spent hours pillaging through their home, filling and taking bag after bag of valuables back to his car – this included heirlooms from her grandmother which had been saved from the Holocaust.

Scott had posted a video of this burglary online. The other homeowner who’s alarm went off on the drivers first attempt saw it and recognized him as the Uber driver.

Police used this information to arrest Jackie Gordon Wilson, age 38, at his home near Sacramento. Stolen property was found in his home, and additionally, he was wearing the same clothes that were in the video footage.

He resisted his arrest as he was charged with first-degree burglary, and attempted first-degree burglary.

It didn’t take long for Uber to remove the driver from their app, they were made aware of the allegations and even offered to assist the police in their investigation.

Getting a ride wherever and whenever you need is what made Uber so successful. 15 million Uber trips are being completed around the world each day, and people love it.

While this business model is a great idea, millions of people are being driven around by strangers. There are some things you can do to ensure your driver is legit and to practice safety.

There are several levels of Uber drivers. The cheapest option is UberX, this is made up of everyday citizens with a car and a driver’s license. UberBlack is the companies original service, which consists of certified chauffeurs who have been licensed by the city, however, they are, understandably, more expensive.

Uber is committed to your safety, as they continue to improve and bring awareness to their safety features and campaigns. We should be reminded that a crossroads pick-up is always available. It’s also a best practice to double check that the car model and license plate match up. There is an emergency assist button, 24/7 incident report and share my trip feature, which can also be used as needed. But in the case of this burglary report, maybe Uber should expand their offerings into home security features?