Police arrest Uber driver accused of burglarizing San Mateo home after dropping off passengers
SAN MATEO, Calif. (KGO) -- San Mateo Police says they arrested Jackie Gordon Wilson, an Uber driver, who dropped off passengers at San Francisco International Airport and then allegedly returned to the house in an attempt to burglarize them.
"He came back to that exact house and tried to burglarize it," says Officer Michael Haobsh with San Mateo police.
The passengers were staying at an Airbnb rental on Rand Street in San Mateo. Police say a security alarm scared Wilson off, and who eventually ended up a few blocks away and broke into a house on Nash Drive.
"(He) torn apart the whole house, tossed everything. Every piece of furniture moved. He opened my safe," explains Scott, who lives with his girlfriend, Chana, in the house that was burglarized.
Scott and Shana don't want to share their identities, but they are sharing surveillance video from of the suspect allegedly breaking into their house.
"There are heirlooms that belong to my grandmother, that go back all the way to the Holocaust. For him that was just something to pawn off. To me that was the memory of my grandmother," explains Chana, who broke down in tears.
Chana says the suspect spent four hours ransacking their house, walking in and out several times with bags filled with their valuables, as seen on their Ring surveillance footage, a doorbell that records video that can be shared online.
When Scott got home after work, he shared the Ring footage online. The owner of the Airbnb then identified the intruder as Wilson, who was also seen allegedly trying to break into the Airbnb property earlier.
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"(The Airbnb owner) had immediately contacted his tenants, who had just left within the hour. (He asked them) 'Do you know this guy?' 'Yeah, that's our Uber driver,'" explains Scott.
Chana and Scott say they were horrified to learn that the suspect may have had a criminal past, which they found out though searching his social media accounts.
"He had openly posted that in 2017, he had been out of jail for six months for robbery. I was shocked!" says Chana.
They think Uber needs to do more to screen drivers.
"I'm definitely thinking twice about taking ride shares after this. I'm thinking everybody should. I mean, this is a big deal! He used this to facilitate committing a crime!" says Scott.
Police say they used information from the Uber app to track down Wilson, who lives in Rancho Cordova near Sacramento.
The couple is working with police to get their items back.
Uber did not return requests for comment.
