NJSP: Uber Driver Robbed, Assaulted On Garden State Parkway

PARAMUS, NJ - A 20-year-old Newark man and 17-year-old Irvington boy face charges after authorities say they robbed and assaulted their Uber driver last month on the Garden State Parkway.

Cashovey McCallum and the juvenile were both taken into custody following an investigation into the Aug. 3 incident, which occurred along a stretch of the Parkway in Paramus, according to New Jersey State Police.

That day, Saka Akinkunle, an Uber driver, picked up two passengers in Irvington who, shortly after getting into the car, requested a change to their destination, New Jersey State Police said.

Akinkunle advised the pair to enter the new address into the Uber mobile app, however they told him their cell phones were dead and asked to borrow the driver’s device, police said.

While they had his phone, they made an unauthorized electronic funds transfer from Akinkunle's Uber account into an unknown account, police said. When Akinkunle realized his earnings for the day were transferred and all of his text messages deleted, he stopped his car on a Parkway exit ramp and confronted his passengers, police said.

McCallum and the teen then physically assaulted the driver and brandished a handgun before fleeing on foot.

Afterwards, Akinkunle reported the incident to state police.

After a two-week investigation, authorities identified McCallum and the teen as suspects, according to police. McCallum and the teen were both arrested in Newark on Aug. 21 and Aug. 23, respectively, police said.

Both were charged with robbery, aggravated assault, theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, theft of services, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose and making terroristic threats.