CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte woman was carjacked at gunpoint while driving for Uber, and one of the people involved has been arrested months later.
Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz spoke with the victim’s family, who said the arrest actually came as a surprise to them.
They said it was a relief to hear that at least one of the suspects involved in the incident had been caught.
The victim’s mother, who did not want to be identified, said her daughter picked up three people along Pennsylvania Avenue in west Charlotte over the summer.
“[They] immediately put a gun in her band and yelled at her to get out of the car,” the victim’s mother said. “And she finally got out. She kept saying, ‘Don’t shoot me. Don’t shoot me.’”
The victim eventually ran to a nearby house, where a neighbor helped her call 911. But by the time police arrived, the suspects were gone.
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Months later, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department was investigating a separate case that required the search of 22-year-old Kayla Meeks’ cell phone data. Detectives said what they found in that search linked Meeks to the Uber robbery.
According to arrest warrants, a Google search for a white Nissan Rogue Sportage was made on her phone ten minutes before the robbery. That is the same type of car that picked up the suspects.
Police said Meeks’ phone also had pictures of the victim’s financial cards, social security card, and a handgun that belonged to the Uber driver.
And it’s not the first time Meeks has been convicted of a crime. She has faced several charges, including possession of a stolen vehicle and breaking and entering.
“It’s just a shame that people get arrested and then get let go before the police can practically finish the paperwork,” the victim’s mother said.
Court records show Kayla Meeks is still in jail under a $35,000 bond.
The victim’s mother told Channel 9 that her daughter is doing better, going to therapy, and even has a new and safer job.
VIDEO: 13-year-old, 14-year-old arrested after armed carjacking, pursuit, CMPD says
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