You know, we’ve all had ideas that, at first glance, seemed downright genius — like we were the first people ever to have them, and that that made us in touch with another plane of understanding. That’s how we ended up with things like automatic seat belts and phone cases that look like guns.
But hey, at least those things are just bad ideas — they’re not bad ideas that break the law.
An Uber driver in California will have to find himself a new gig after his cunning plan went awry.
Jackie Gordon Wilson, 38, clearly thought he had a great scheme figured out. As an Uber driver, he got to pick folks up from their trendy San Mateo neighborhood and drop them at the airport.
Knowing they’d be out of town for a while, he could go back to the now-empty house he’d picked them up at and ransack it.
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Of course, there’s a reason why we know this Uber driver’s middle name and age. He got caught.
One day, going about his criminal routine, he dropped off his passengers at the airport and less than an hour later he was back at their door.
We know this because the home’s Ring cam recorded it. However, in this instance, Wilson’s attempts to break in set off an alarm, so he beat a hasty retreat.
But Wilson was still pretty determined to not go home empty-handed.
So, he broke into another home nearby. It also had a Ring cam, but not an alarm to set off. Wilson worked over that house thoroughly. The cam caught him taking trip after trip with bags full of the homeowner’s belongings over his four-hour spree.
“(He) torn apart the whole house, tossed everything. Every piece of furniture moved. He opened my safe,” the homeowner told KGO
However, despite the more “successful” burglary, the end had already begun for Wilson’s criminal exploits.
See, the passengers he had dropped off at the airport weren’t actually the homeowners — they were renting out an Airbnb.
Instead of the house being unoccupied for a few days, someone was back much sooner to review that Ring cam footage.
That’s really where it all fell apart for Wilson.
The owner of the ransacked home shared their Ring cam video footage shortly after finding their home burgled, and within 15 minutes, the Airbnb owner saw it, compared it with their own Ring cam footage, and contacted the tenants, who confirmed that it had been their Uber driver.
San Mateo police tracked Wilson down and knocked on his door the very next day.
Making things much easier for the investigators, Wilson hadn’t even changed out of the clothing he’d been wearing in the Ring cam footage.
Needless to say, he was taken into custody on suspicion of burglary, attempted burglary, and resisting arrest.
Uber did release a statement following Wilson’s arrest.
“We removed the driver’s access to the app as soon as we were made aware of the allegations and stand ready to assist police in their investigation,” Andrew Hasbun, Uber communications manager, told CNN .
Meanwhile, San Mateo police issued a safety reminder for using ridesharing apps.
Apart from obviously remember that the driver will know your house will be empty when you’re dropped off at the airport, they suggest asking the driver “who are you here for?” and making sure the driver knows your name before getting in, and sharing ride details with your friends and family.
“According to Uber, you’re able to tap ‘Share status’ in the mobile app and share your driver’s name, photo, license plate, and location with a friend or family member. Lyft users can tap the ‘Send ETA’ icon on the bottom bar, which will send a text message to family or friends with a link to your current route and location.”
