A drunken 25-year-old guy left an East Village bar and hopped into a car thinking it was his waiting Uber — only to be robbed by the driver, police and law-enforcement sources said Tuesday.
The victim told cops he got into the vehicle around 3:30 a.m. Nov. 11 on East Houston Street near First Avenue, thinking it was the Uber he had ordered, police said.
The Madison, NJ, man sat in the front passenger seat of the car as the driver played along, acting as if he worked for Uber and asking the victim if he could borrow his Apple iPhone 6 so he could use the GPS, cops said.
The victim handed over his cell phone — and never got it back, police said. Unbeknownst to the victim — who told police he had been drinking — the driver also stole his wallet, which contained credit and debit cards.
It was unclear where the victim had requested to be taken or where he was actually dropped off.
The driver later racked up $650 in charges on the stolen cards at a North Bergen, NJ, Walmart, police said.
Cops provided a photo of the suspect during his shopping spree and described him as being in his late 20s with a medium build. Cops could not immediately give a description of the car he was driving.