Uber is one of those services that everyone relies on from time to time. When you're drunk and trying to make your way home, or desperate to catch a flight in time or lost in a foreign city, it seems like the app always has the answer. Not only that, but Uber drivers tend to be pretty good with conversation, which is much appreciated during a long journey. After all, Uber drivers can be anyone: that's the beauty of the whole system.
But that's not to say that the company's record is completely spotless. In fact, ever since the app first launched back in 2009, there have been a few cases where innocent commuters have ended up taken hostage by people who really shouldn't be behind the wheel in Mario Kart, let alone in real life. Yes, when Uber drivers go bad, chaos ensues. Scroll down to check out five stories about the weirdest Uber journeys of all time.
1. The phone hostage-taker
Back in December 2013, a woman named Jennifer Gomez booked an Uber while out drinking with friends in Los Angeles. Later that same night, she realised that she'd left her phone in the cab, and phoned the driver to ask for it back. The driver (who called himself "Emmanuel") promptly took her phone hostage and demanded that she pay him a whopping $500. Jennifer contacted Uber herself to complain about the extortion and a company representative attempted to get the missing phone back, stating: "Our driver operations team has deactivated his account until he returns your phone. I really hope this works." Jennifer attempted to negotiate with the driver, and even made arrangements to meet with him, but he never showed up. Let's just hope he didn't attempt the same scam with anyone else.
2. The party animal
Uber driver Brandon Devante Oliver was arrested in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in September 2014 after police pulled him over and discovered that he had been driving with a litre of peach vodka and a big baggie of weed in his glove compartment. The fact that he was likely driving under the influence of drugs and narcotics wasn't even his only misdemeanour. It transpired that Oliver was driving even though his license had already been suspended, had neglected to apply for a business license or a chauffeur permit and was behind the wheel of a hired vehicle without the right insurance. With a rock n' roll lifestyle like that, I think he'd make a better roadie, rather than driving on the actual roads, don't you?
3. The kidnapper
In 2014 (a bad year for Uber's reputation, it seems) Gawker reported that an unnamed woman booked an Uber home late at night. When her driver arrived, he initially seemed normal. But then, instead of taking her home via the most direct and timely route, her driver proceeded to ignore her directions and take her on a rambling joyride where she ended up 20 miles away from the home address she had entered into the app. That was when things got even more disturbing. The driver took her to what looked like an abandoned parking lot. The woman frantically attempted to escape, but the driver locked the doors. It was only after screaming for help did he eventually take her home. All in all, the journey took over two hours. Yikes!
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4. The psychopath
It's always awkward when you're forced to correct your driver about the route he's taking you on, but nobody expects to be violently attacked for questioning a driver's sense of direction. Unfortunately, San Franciscan bartender Roberto Chicas wasn't so lucky. Uber driver Patrick Karajah brutally bludgeoned him with a claw hammer after he questioned the driver's route. A female passenger riding with Chicas attempted to de-escalate the situation to no avail. Karajah promptly pulled over in front of a public housing complex and told his passengers to get out; that was when he struck Chicas with the blunt object. Chicas' face was badly fractured as a result, to the point where he was blinded in one eye. Karajah was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and battery with serious bodily injury.
5. The fast and the furious
Ryan Simonetti, the CEO of New York-based company Convene, and his two colleagues ended up inadvertently cast in a need for speed movie when they booked an Uber back to Washington DC in 2014 (again, a really, really bad year for Uber). They got more than they bargained for on Monday, July 8 when, on the way to their firm's new office, Simonetti noticed that a taxi inspector was following their car. When they asked the driver why, he answered with some vague excuses and then took off down the highway driving "well above the speed limit," with the taxi inspector following close behind. "It was like an episode of ‘Cops,'" Simonetti later stated. "We’ve all seen the ‘Cops’ episode. This only ends two ways. Either the car crashes or the guy jumps out and runs. And he had plenty of opportunities to slow down and jump out and run, and he wasn’t doing that." The ordeal lasted 10 minutes before Simonetti and his co-workers were released.
It should be noted that the vast majority of Uber drivers are responsible people and good drivers, who take care of their customers and make sure they get home safely. However, if you were after further evidence of questionability, check out
this disturbing story about an Uber driver who turned out to be very bad news indeed.
