This report has been updated following its publication.
A user of the transportation network company Lyft had an unexpectedly scary ride this week, after a fellow passenger robbed him at gunpoint.
According to an email sent by the San Francisco Police Department Friday, the 22-year-old man summoned a Lyft at 1 a.m. on Tuesday near the 100 block of Mason Street, which is between Eddy and Ellis Streets. The rider "was intoxicated," police noted in their report.
After the driver picked the man up, "the Lyft vehicle drove around" until it picked up a second passenger, police say. That passenger, a man in his 30s, "pointed a gun at" the first passenger and "took [his] items," police say, including cash and his cell phone.
As you likely know, Lyft offers both traditional solo rides (as one would take in a cab) and "Lyft Lines," in which (per their website) riders "Share the ride with others going the same way for a lower price." At publication time, no SFPD spokespeople were available to explain which service the victim was using Tuesday, or what (if any) role police believe the driver played during the theft.
According to an SF Gate report that appeared a few hours after this one, the information as initially sent by SFPD is incorrect, and the vehicle the victim got into might not have been a Lyft, after all.
SF Gate was able to get a response from an SFPD spokesperson, who said that the victim "thought the driver worked for the company and got inside. The driver picked up two more people then eventually stopped at an ATM. One of the passengers, described as a man in his 30s, pointed a gun at the victim and made him withdraw money."
The driver then "dropped the victim off at a random location and drove away."
The theft victim was uninjured.
An attempt to reach Lyft for comment on Tuesday's case was unsuccessful at publication time. And, as always, SFPD asks that if you know anything about this robbery that you contact them anonymously at (415) 575-4444 or text-a-tip to TIP411 and begin the text with "SFPD."
Update 1/20: Lyft spokesperson Alexandra LaManna responded to SFist's queries with the following statement:
We have been able to confirm that the Lyft driver who was assigned to pick up the passenger arrived at the designated spot and called the passenger several times before canceling the ride as a no-show.We have many safety measures in place to help passengers correctly identify their driver before getting into a car. When passengers request a ride using the Lyft app, they get a text confirmation that includes the driver’s name as well as the make, model and color of their car. Passengers also immediately see a picture of their driver’s face, their car and their license plate number, and can track their driver’s arrival via GPS.
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