Cleveland police investigate: Uber driver shot, robbed on Cleveland’s East Side

CLEVELAND, Ohio- A 41-year-old Uber driver was shot and had his car stolen Tuesday night on Cleveland’s East Side, marking the latest attack targeting a rideshare driver in the city.

The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. in the 3400 block of East 147th Street, according to reports.

Officers found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound and immediately provided first aid before paramedics took him to a nearby hospital.

Police said the suspect took the victim’s vehicle during the incident, but authorities recovered it shortly afterward.

Witness video footage showed a pickup truck heading north on East 146th Street from Kinsman Road and stopping at the intersection of East 146th Street and Spear Avenue around 10:15 p.m., according to 3News.

In the footage, a man got out of the truck, walked behind it, and approached the driver’s side. About 10 seconds later, he reappeared holding his face and staggered toward a home on East 146th Street, where he collapsed on the front porch steps.

A witness told police she heard a loud noise outside her home and, when she looked out the window, saw the victim stumbling onto her front porch.

A Cleveland police officer also saw a notification on the victim’s phone from Uber that read, “your pickup location is ahead” near East 146th Street and Spear Avenue, according to a police report.

“This horrific act of violence is disturbing,” an Uber spokesperson stated. “Our thoughts are with the driver, and we’re working to get in touch with them. We’ve been in contact with police and will continue to do whatever we can to support their investigation.”

The shooting comes after two earlier attacks on rideshare drivers in February. Antoine Latham, 56, of Cleveland, was driving for Lyft when someone robbed him of his cellphone and shot him, causing his vehicle to crash into a guardrail in the 10200 block of Rosehill Avenue near East 103rd Street. He later died at a local hospital. Derrek Dove, 20, has been indicted in that case.

Just days later, Vasyl Shvets, 27, of Parma, was shot and killed during a late-night Lyft shift. During the incident, Shvets, a Ukrainian immigrant, crashed his vehicle into a dumpster in the 2100 block of East 84th Street.