CHICAGO – Prosecutors have charged a man with robbing and carjacking a driver after investigators determined his Uber account was used to order the victim’s ill-fated ride, court records show.
The robbery was one of several that targeted car-sharing and food delivery drivers in the same area in late September and early October.
Jamari Woods, 20, was already on probation for possession of a stolen motor vehicle when he and three accomplices lured a 24-year-old Uber driver to the 4400 block of West Maypole on Sept. 30 around 10 p.m., officials said.
According to the charges, at least one of the men displayed a gun as the group beat and dragged the victim from his 2016 Audi A6.
Detectives found surveillance video from the pickup location that aided in their investigation. But an even bigger break came when they learned that Woods’ Uber account was used to lure the victim in the carjacking, prosecutors alleged.
Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman granted a state request to keep Woods in custody pending trial. He is charged with aggravated vehicle hijacking and armed robbery.
Prosecutors charged another man, Amarion Pope, earlier this month with participating in the carjacking. Officials said the 20-year-old Pope was in police custody at the time of the hijacking.
Neither Pope nor Woods are accused of participating in seven similar robberies that investigators linked community alert from last month.
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