Uber driver has wallet, cash snatched while returning phone
Police say suspect Tariq Ahmad reached into the Uber and grabbed several items when the driver tried to return a woman's lost property.
A Berkeley Hope Center resident stole several items from an Uber driver Monday when the driver tried to return a lost phone to the suspect's girlfriend, according to court papers.
The incident happened outside the Hope Center, at 2012 Berkeley Way, just after 12:30 p.m., police said.
The driver was sitting in his parked car waiting to return the phone, which the woman had forgotten the prior night, when her boyfriend came outside instead, according to charging papers.
The boyfriend, identified as Tariq Ahmad, "reached into the passenger window and took the victim's wallet," which held nearly $900 in cash, his phone and a scanner for monitoring car diagnostics — and then headed back inside.
An employee of the Hope Center helped identify him, according to charging documents.
When the staffer spoke with Ahmad, he gave back the phone and scanner but "denied having the wallet," police wrote.
Police later searched his apartment but didn't find the wallet.
Tariq Ahmad. BPD
Initially, Ahmad refused to come outside to speak with police, according to court papers.
Officers arrested him inside the building at 3:30 p.m. and walked him out onto the block in handcuffs, witnesses said.
On Tuesday, the Alameda County DA's office charged Ahmad, 39, with grand theft, a felony.
He remained in custody as of publication time, according to booking records.
He is scheduled for arraignment Wednesday, court records show. No bail amount was listed.
