‘Told me to pull over or I’m dead’: Milwaukee Lyft driver relives carjacking

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Loni Smith lost her job back in August and has been driving for Lyft in recent months to make some extra cash for the holidays.

Last Thursday night, she was making one of her last pickups of the night when she picked up two riders.

“They entered the car with ski masks on,” Smith said. “It was cold that day, so I tried to consider just making small talk about how cold it is.”

Smith says the drive quickly turned scary, as the two riders began to act suspicious, changing the drop-off location and adding stops along the way.

After one rider was dropped off, the other started to threaten Smith, who tried to get help through the Lyft app but was not successful.

“Told me to pull over or I’m dead, and I found the nearest gas station, literally less than a block away, tried to reason with him and I immediately got out of the car,” Smith said.

Milwaukee police confirm an auto theft happened around 12:30 a.m. Friday morning on the 6800 block of N. Teutonia Avenue, and that the car was eventually recovered by the Wauwatosa Police Department.

Smith says she was contacted by Wauwatosa police on Saturday, telling her the car, which she was renting through Lyft, was involved in a police chase.

Wauwatosa police confirm that around 9 p.m. Saturday night, there was a 7.5-mile police pursuit from Burleigh Street to Silver Spring Drive involving a car that was stolen in Milwaukee on Friday, and one person was taken into custody.

Smith’s phone was left in the car, on and still active in the Lyft app, allowing the rider to send money to himself on other apps.

“I cannot say that I’ve had a bad experience. Most of the rides have been amazing and I’ve learned a lot of things about people,” Smith said. “This one particular time, it just made it to where I will never drive a ride share ever again.”

Smith was also charged for extra mileage on the rented car from Lyft and did not hear back from the company until Tuesday afternoon when she was told they're looking at all the details and working to get her money back.

“The allegations described are unacceptable and have no place in the Lyft community or in our society. We have permanently banned the rider’s account from the Lyft platform, reached out to the driver to offer our support, and are assisting law enforcement with their investigation,” a Lyft spokesperson told CBS 58 on Tuesday night.

Smith says she also was hiding Christmas presents in the car for her 7-year-old daughter.

“I never thought that it would have been somebody that I picked up, that I unlocked the doors for, and would have betrayed that trust,” Smith said.