An Uber driver from Nashville was forced out of her car and told to run while a gun was pointed to her head when picking up riders on the ride-share app, Uber.
MNPD violent Crimes Division detectives arrested three teenagers on Tuesday evening, all between the ages of 15-17, after they carjacked and crashed into a Toyota Corolla at the intersection of Murfreesboro Pike and Fesslers Lane while they were trying to evade police.
The car was taken during an armed carjacking at around 2 am Tuesday on Kellow Street, and the victim is Barbara Ross.
“I’m trying to get out of the car, I have to press myself up on the door just kind of slide out the door frame to get passed him as his gun is sitting on my forehead.” says Ross.
It should have just been a normal pick-up for Ross, but it wasn’t.
She had received an alert to pick up a rider in North Nashville.
Ross then says the two young men were waiting for her while one got in the back seat and the other opened the passenger door. Ross says that when she went to the move items on her seat, she looked up only to have a gun pointed in her face.
Ross says when she went to move the items on her seat she looked up to a gun in her face.
“I’m in a panic. I throw my hands up and do a squeal. I’m shocked — like I freeze for a second and then I go to get out. I’m reaching for the passenger door, and I can’t find it.”
After she started running, she went through neighborhoods, and was knocking on doors until running to a Taco Bell begging for help.
Ross is calling to Uber saying they should have alerted the police when they noticed she was not moving her car or headed to the her next stop.
“When they say they have you for your safety and they have all these safety features involved — no. They don’t.”
Ross says that she would like to see a safety system where riders have a picture attached to the account, so drivers are able to verify them.
“We know nothing. We’re in the dark. Like we have no idea who we’re picking up. We don’t know what they look like. We can’t verify anything.”
Ross set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for expenses considering she is out of a car and job.
Because the teens crashed the car she was driving, which was a rental, she is no longer allowed to rent from Avis again.
A spokesperson from Uber said the following about the situation, “What the driver experienced was terrifying, and we are thankful she wasn’t hurt. We are grateful to the investigators for their swift action that led to the arrests of the individuals involved.”
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