18-year-old and juvenile accused of threatening Uber driver arrested after anonymous tip
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Police say a tip led them to two young suspects who are now facing robbery charges after dashcam video showed the terrifying moments a Houston rideshare driver was threatened with a gun.
Martin Brooks, 18, is charged with aggravated robbery in the case. A second juvenile suspect is also facing charges. Houston police did not release the name of the second suspect because he's underage.
Brooks and the second suspect are accused of trying to carjack a rideshare driver. It happened back in October 2022. Police released the dashcam video on Jan. 3, 2023.
ORIGINAL REPORT: Uber driver says he was 'just trying to escape' terrifying moment 2 suspects threatened him with gun
According to court documents, after HPD released the dashcam video, they got an anonymous tip that identified Brooks as the suspect. Officers found the 18-year-old and he reportedly confessed to committing the robbery.
Brooks was also charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and evading after a chase with Harris County Pct. 4 constable deputies on Jan. 15, officials said.
Pct. 4 said deputies attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a stolen vehicle, but the driver refused to stop and led them on a brief pursuit. The driver, later identified as Brooks, lost control and crashed the stolen vehicle, and that's when the suspect and his passenger were both detained, Pct. 4 said.
It was after he was apprehended that deputies realized he had an open warrant for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon related to the rideshare incident.
The 18-year-old appeared in court earlier this week, and a judge set his bond at $150,000 for all of the charges. If he meets bond, he won't be allowed to use any rideshare service in Harris County.
ABC13 spoke to the Uber driver, named Dovran, who said he picked up a man named "MJ" at a restaurant in the 7600 block of Westheimer on Oct. 18, 2022.
About five minutes into the ride, he said one of the passengers pulled out a handgun and demanded he get out of the vehicle. The other passenger reached for his seat.
"Get the f*** out the car. Get the f*** out the car," one of the suspects is heard demanding repeatedly in the dashcam video.
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"I wasn't scared in that situation at that time," Dovran said. "I was just trying to escape. Luckily, he didn't shoot me."
Soon, the other suspect got out, opened Dovran's side door, and tried to take his cellphone, police said.
During the struggle for the phone, police said Dovran was able to cause the suspect to fall to the ground. That's when Dovran managed to accelerate the vehicle, all while the first suspect still had a gun to his head.
"Get out before I kill you. Get out before I kill you. I'm going to kill you," the armed suspect said.
"I was thinking, 'OK, if I drive off, at least one guy will be behind me because he was outside.' Luckily, the guy who was in the driving seat, he just jumped out," Dovran explained.
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