Uber driver arrested, accused of burglarizing San Mateo home after dropping off passengers at airport

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- San Mateo police say they arrested Jackie Gordon Wilson, an Uber driver who dropped off passengers at San Francisco International Airport and then allegedly returned to the house in an attempt to burglarize them.

"He came back to that exact house and tried to burglarize it," said Officer Michael Haobsh with San Mateo police.

The passengers were staying at an Airbnb rental on Rand Street in San Mateo. Police say a security alarm scared Wilson off, and he eventually ended up a few blocks away and broke into a house on Nash Drive.

"(He) torn apart the whole house, tossed everything. Every piece of furniture moved. He opened my safe," explained Scott, who lives with his girlfriend, Chana, in the house that was burglarized.

Scott and Shana don't want to share their identities, but they are sharing surveillance video of the suspect allegedly breaking into their house.

"There are heirlooms that belong to my grandmother that go back all the way to the Holocaust. For him, that was just something to pawn off. To me, that was the memory of my grandmother," explained Chana, who broke down in tears.

Chana said the suspect spent four hours ransacking their house, walking in and out several times with bags filled with their valuables, as seen on their Ring surveillance footage.

When Scott got home after work, he shared the Ring footage online. The owner of the Airbnb then identified the intruder as Wilson, who was also seen allegedly trying to break into the Airbnb property earlier.

"(The Airbnb owner) had immediately contacted his tenants, who had just left within the hour. (He asked them) 'Do you know this guy?' 'Yeah, that's our Uber driver,'" explained Scott.

Chana and Scott say they were horrified to learn that the suspect may have had a criminal past, which they found out through searching his social media accounts.

"He had openly posted that in 2017, he had been out of jail for six months for robbery. I was shocked!" said Chana.

They think Uber needs to do more to screen drivers.

"I'm definitely thinking twice about taking ride shares after this. I'm thinking everybody should. I mean, this is a big deal! He used this to facilitate committing a crime!" said Scott.

Police say they used information from the Uber app to track down Wilson, who lives in Rancho Cordova near Sacramento.

The couple is working with police to get their items back.

Uber did not return requests for comment.