Police find Uber driver’s stolen car, arrest man — but not for carjacking

Police officers were able to track down a sedan that was violently stolen from an Uber driver in southeast Atlanta earlier this week.

A man was taken into custody after being caught inside the stolen vehicle, but investigators have not charged him in connection with the Tuesday morning carjacking, Atlanta police said.

The incident began about 1:30 a.m. at the Ashley Cascade Apartment Homes on Kimberly Way, which is where the Uber driver was requested to pick up a passenger, AJC.com previously reported. The passenger’s name in the Uber app was “Money,” according to a police report.

RELATED: Uber driver choked, dragged out of sedan during carjacking in SW Atlanta

The driver, a 27-year-old woman, let two men and a woman enter her 2015 Volkswagen Jetta.

The group then tried to rob the woman, with one of the men choking the driver before she was dragged out of the vehicle, police said. The suspects then drove away in the woman’s car, which was recovered Wednesday morning.

Officers received a tip about 2:45 a.m. that a stolen vehicle was in the 800 block of Fox Street in northwest Atlanta, police said. Officers found the car on Paines Avenue, and a man jumped out of the vehicle and ran away once officers spotted it.

The man was arrested after a brief foot chase, which is when officers seized several grams of marijuana and cash from the suspect, police said. Officers then confirmed that the vehicle the man was spotted inside was the stolen Volkswagen.

“At this time, the suspect, whose name is being withheld, has not been charged with the carjacking,” Atlanta police spokeswoman TaSheena Brown said in a news release. “He has been charged with obstruction and possession/distribution of marijuana.”

The Uber driver’s mother, Chandrise Ross, previously told Channel 2 Action News that the carjacking forced her daughter to walk home while barefoot.

“My daughter works two jobs. She’s a single mom. She don’t deserve this at all,” Ross said. “She had no phone, no shoes, no jacket — she didn’t have anything at all, and she walked five miles home.”

Police said she walked to her home in South Fulton and contacted the South Fulton Police Department, which referred her to Atlanta police since that’s where the crime took place, the incident report said.

When the woman later returned to the scene, she found only one of her shoes, Channel 2 reported.

Uber told the news station that it has launched an internal investigation, adding that the company has implemented features such as emergency buttons for drivers.

The victim said the man who choked her was a dark-skinned man who was tall and slim, according to the incident report. The woman was dark-skinned, “big and very built.” She didn’t get a good description of the third suspect.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers Atlanta. Tipsters can remain anonymous, and be eligible for rewards of up to $2,000, by calling Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477, texting information to 274637 or visiting the Crime Stoppers website.