CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A trip from the airport in a Lyft ended with police ramming an SUV, breaking a window and pointing a gun at innocent passenger Wes Wilson Friday night in Charlotte. Wilson, a journalist from Texas, said he was shocked to later find out his Lyft driver was wanted for a recent drive-by shooting.
"I was frustrated and angry and it was ridiculous that it happened," Wilson said.
Pictures taken that night show broken glass scattered across the passenger seat and a gun in the front seat.
"Thank God he didn't start using it," Wilson said.
Wilson said his ride went from routine to risky in a matter of seconds Friday night.
"All of a sudden (the driver's) like, 'Oh s---, I think the cops are following me,'" he said.
As his Lyft drove down Wilkinson Boulevard around 7:30 p.m., unknown to both the SUV's driver and passenger, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Crime Reduction Unit plotted a takedown.
"All of a sudden the lights are on, the sirens are on," Wilson said. "The officer comes up and he's got his gun on me. All this glass sprays me. I kind of jerk back a little bit and I can feel the glass digging in my back. He's yelling at me to, 'Get out of the car. Get out of the car.' In the initial moment, I was thinking, what do I need to do to not get shot? I've done nothing wrong.'"
It wasn't until after police detained Wilson that he learned his highly rated Lyft driver "Bruce" was really Dominick Kroma, a man Matthews police wanted arrested for firing shots at a home the day before.
"It was a shock to officers when they realized I was a Lyft passenger," Wilson said.
Matthews police said officers did not know Kroma was driving for Lyft.
"As for notifying the ride-share companies, during the course of our investigation, we had no information that Mr. Kroma was operating his vehicle as a ride-share service, nor any information, as the passenger of the vehicle stated, that Mr. Kroma was identifying himself as 'Bruce,'" Matthews Police Department Public Information Officer Tim Aycock said.
CMPD said the apprehension was the result of a license plate reader hit.
"In the process of this apprehension, the suspect's vehicle struck a CMPD police vehicle," CMPD said. "Both occupants of the vehicle were detained, and a firearm was located inside the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was identified as being the suspect with outstanding warrants for shooting into occupied property; the passenger of the vehicle was determined to not have any criminal involvement and was released. No one was injured as a result of this incident."
Wilson hopes his frightening experience results in better communication moving forward. He said no rideshare passenger should go through what he did. Wilson wrote a story about his experience as well for the NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas.
"There's just not enough cooperation between Lyft and between law enforcement," he said. "When I was headed home, I did not want to get in an Uber or a Lyft."
Court records show police cited Kroma in August for speeding and failure to take notice of a light or siren.
"Safety is fundamental to Lyft and the incident described is terrifying," the company said in a statement. "We have permanently banned the driver from the platform and have been in touch with the rider to extend our support. We stand ready to assist law enforcement."
A spokesperson for Uber said there is not a driver in its app named Dominick Kroma.