PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland Lyft driver said he froze after being carjacked at gunpoint early Friday morning.
“I never feared so much for my life,” said Daniel, who asked that his last name not be used.
Friday’s attempted armed robbery was the second attack on a ride share driver in as many days. On Thursday morning, a Lyft driver told police he was carjacked and robbed at gunpoint in downtown Portland.
Police said they don’t know yet if the two crimes are connected.
Daniel said he was waiting for his Lyft passenger at Southwest 17th and Alder at around 5:30 a.m. Friday when a white SUV approached — heading the wrong way down a one-way street. The SUV blocked Daniel’s car. At least three people got out and one of them pointed a handgun at the Lyft driver.
“I was in such a shock,” Daniel said. “I was like ‘Please, please take whatever you want.”
The suspects demanded Daniel’s car. He took off running down the street. The Lyft driver explained he still had the key fob in his pocket, preventing the thieves from starting his car and stealing it.
“I’m sure they were trying to drive it away; like most cars, they expected the key in the ignition,” said Daniel.
The Lyft driver believes the teenage suspects stole two of his cell phones and smashed another one. They left the car behind. No arrests have been made.
The Lyft driver in the other incident said he was waiting in a parking lot in downtown Portland early Thursday morning when a car slammed on the brakes in front of his vehicle. Two men and a woman jumped out of their vehicle and demanded that he give them his keys.
He said one of the suspects flashed what appeared to be a gun. The thieves punched and kicked him, then took his car. The VW Tiguan with Oregon license plate 440 PAQ is still missing.
Carjackings are often a crime of opportunity, typically involving people parked in a lot or on the side of the road.
Daniel, the Lyft driver involved in Friday’s incident, said he isn’t sure if he was targeted because he’s a ride share driver or if he was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.
“It could happen to anybody,” Daniel said.
