Uber Driver Beaten By Car Thief In Otay Mesa

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA – A thief attacked an Uber driver today as the victim was sleeping in his car on an Otay Mesa roadside, then stole the vehicle.

The 26-year-old victim awoke to the sounds of the carjacker breaking into his 2016 Toyota Corolla in an industrial area in the 1300 block of Piper Ranch Road shortly before 6:30 a.m., according to San Diego police.

After smashing one of the windows on the car with a flashlight, the crook opened the driver's-side door and beat the victim with the light, sending him fleeing, Officer Dino Delimitros said.

The assailant then got into the Corolla and drove off.

About two hours later, officers found the stolen sedan abandoned at Airway Drive and Avenida de la Fuente North, just north of the U.S.-Mexico line.

The carjacker -- described as a short-haired man in his mid-30s to early-40s, wearing blue jeans and a black hooded sweat shirt -- remained at large as of late afternoon, Delimitros said.

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