An Uber driver taking a Bronx man from Philadelphia to New York asked his passenger to relieve him behind the wheel so that he could catch some zzz’s – only for the passenger to crash and total the car while fleeing police, authorities said Tuesday.
Juan Carlos, 20, of the Bronx hired Philly Uber driver Corey Robinson, 43, to take him to a college in Herkimer, NY early Saturday, according to New York State Police.
About two hours into the trip, a sleepy Robinson asked Carlos to drive the 2016 Hyundai Sonata so that he could nap, but when he awoke to his passenger speeding, Carlos explained it was because cops were chasing him, police said.
“I was getting really sleepy and started swerving on the road, so I asked him to drive,” Robinson, who also works part-time as a plumber, told The Post Tuesday.
Cops said Carlos was driving without a license, but Robinson said Carlos showed him a Pennsylvania license with his name on it so he trusted him to drive.
Robinson said after napping for less than an hour he suddenly awoke from the speed of the car.
“I thought the car was leaving the ground,” said Robinson. “I told him to stop the car, and he said, ‘the police are chasing us.’”
State troopers monitoring southbound traffic on Interstate 81 near Binghamton clocked the Carlos going 86 mph in a 65 mph zone at around 5:35 a.m.
The troopers attempted to stop the car, but Carlos gunned it instead, speeding north on the interstate, police said.
“I just kept telling him to ‘stop the car, stop the car, stop the car!’” said Robinson. “He said he was going to stop, but then he just started speeding up.”
Carlos eventually lost the cops, but soon plowed the car into a guard rail in the Town of Colesville, authorities said. Corey and Robinson, who suffered minor injuries from the crash, were then taken into police custody.
Robinson was released without charges, while was Carlos was charged with unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in the third-degree, driving without a license and several other traffic violations, police said.
Robinson, who injured his shoulder in the crash, said that his car is “completely totaled” and regrets letting Carlos get behind the wheel.
“I’m so sorry I did it,” he said, adding that he wants to take legal action against Carlos, who Robinson spotted laughing after the crash.
“I don’t know what he was laughing at,” Robinson said.
An Uber spokeswoman said that Robinson, who has been an Uber driver since December, and Carlos’ Uber accounts have been suspended while the matter is investigated.
“We are reaching out to the authorities to assist in their investigation,” the spokeswoman added.
Additional reporting by Danielle Furfaro