Uber: A modern bank robber's getaway car
Technically Incorrect: In Massachusetts, police arrest a man who allegedly robbed a bank and fled in an Uber car.
Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
Luis Mallett, alleged Uber customer.
Technology companies tell us they've made us more independent.
We just tap on our phones and so many services are instantly ours.
Getaway cars by Uber, for example.
A man allegedly tried to rob the Santander Bank in Weymouth, Massachusetts, on Monday by passing a note to the teller saying he had a bomb.
In a Facebook post, the Weymouth Police Department said that a witness noted that the man ran from the bank, but then jumped into an Uber.
Police followed an Uber, a Nissan Altima, and arrested 29-year-old Luis Mallett. Police said he was in possession of $700, which the department says corresponds to the amount of money stolen.
Mallett was charged with unarmed robbery and a false report about an explosive device because of the note.
The idea of using the Uber ride-hailing service as a getaway car isn't a first.
Last October, a Maryland man apparently had the same idea after he allegedly robbed a bank.
Uber didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
I imagine, though, that using an Uber instead as a getaway car means you don't have to split the proceeds with the driver and, even more importantly, you don't have to trust anyone else.
Of course, there is the small matter of Uber rides leaving enormous technological trails. And don't you have to book an Uber using your real name?
Perhaps, though, bank robbers don't think that far ahead.
Perhaps they're just enthralled by the technology at their fingertips.