CHICAGO – A suburban man is facing carjacking charges, accused of physically attacking and stealing his Uber driver’s car in the Loop. Prosecutors said Jose Ortiz-Perez, 30, of Woodstock, apparently became enraged after the driver couldn’t find a radio station that played music he liked.
Ortiz-Perez ordered an Uber to take herself and two friends from the W Hotel in the Loop to TAO nightclub in River North around 11 p.m. on August 19.
Prosecutors said Ortiz-Perez asked the 40-year-old driver to change the music. After trying several stations, the driver turned off the radio because he couldn’t find a station Ortiz-Perez liked, officials said.
That’s when Ortiz-Perez allegedly began attacking the driver from the backseat, hitting him in the head and body. The driver parked the car and tried unsuccessfully to stop the attack, according to a lawsuit.
The driver got out of the car to get away from Ortiz-Perez and tried to restrain him by holding his arm, but the attack continued, the complaint said.
Ortiz-Perez eventually jumped into the driver’s seat of the victim’s white Honda Civic and drove away, prosecutors allege. But he left the parking brake on and was only able to go a few car lengths before getting out and walking away.
Prosecutors said the attack and car theft were all caught on the Uber driver’s surveillance system.
Chicago police detectives executed a search warrant on the Uber account that ordered the ride. The warrant led them to Ortiz-Perez and they arrested him at his home late this week.
According to documents filed in court, Ortiz-Perez told investigators that the Uber driver “slapped my ass” and dragged him out of the Uber by his feet. He also claimed he suffered a concussion and woke up in the hospital but was released within two hours, but it took two to three weeks for him to recover, the document said.
However, in police bodycam footage recorded minutes after the attack, Ortiz-Perez told officers that nothing had happened, that he was trying to reach TAO and that he did not need an ambulance, the report said.
The driver, who speaks only Cantonese, reported feeling weak and dizzy and said everything he ate came back after the attack. He said he felt sick immediately after the attack, so he decided to wait a few days before filing a police report, and he had a friend drive him from the Loop to Chinatown. He was later diagnosed with a concussion, according to a statement he made to CPD.
Prosecutors asked Judge Deidre Dyer to keep Ortiz-Perez in jail pending trial. She denied their petition and ordered Ortiz-Perez to undergo electronic monitoring while the case was pending. She also ordered him to avoid using rideshare services until the matter is resolved.
