Uber driver's vehicle stolen, passenger injured in armed carjacking

FOX 32 / SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE - A man was injured early Tuesday when his Uber driver’s vehicle was stolen by two armed carjackers on Lake Shore Drive on the South Side.

The Uber driver, 64-year-old Roy Smith, was picking up two passengers at 2:09 a.m. in the 3100 block of South Lake Shore Drive when another vehicle stopped in front of his, blocking his path, according to Chicago Police.

"They were getting in. At that time a car swooped down by me,” Smith said.

Two people got out with guns, with one telling the driver to get out and the other robbing the passengers, police said. They then told the passengers to exit the vehicle, police said.

As one of the passengers was getting out, one of the suspects started driving the vehicle away, causing the 30-year-old man to fall, police said.

“My two riders were trying to get out. One was out, the other didn't know that he was out, so he got back in to get his buddy and that's when they took off. And he got bounced along the road there and split his head,” Smith said.

The rider suffered a laceration to the head and was taken in good condition to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center. No one else was hurt.

Smith flagged down a state trooper who happened to be near the scene.

Police are still looking for Smith's 2015 Ford Fusion SE. It's a dark gray, metallic car with Illinois plates: Q-3-6-6-6-2

A bit shaken and now without his car, Smith says he won't let this stop him from doing his job. He plans on going back to work when he can.

"Yes I will. If I had my car tonight, I would be back out,” Smith said.