Austin Teen Caught Robbing A Bank Using A Uber Scooter

The first rule when robbing a bank: don’t use your credit card to rent your getaway vehicle. Austin-based newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman, Luca Mangiarano, a 19-year-old teen, was charged with robbery by threat. The charge came after he showed up at a BBVA Compass bank located on Six Street, handed a note to a bank teller and demanded money. However, he was caught soon after because he used an Uber’s Jump electric scooter as his getaway vehicle.

Apparently, Austin notified Uber about this case and was provided with Mangiarano’s information including his name, home address as well as credit card number used to rent a Jump scooter as seen in video footage. With this, police could verify the connection of Mangiarano by tracking the Jump scooter from the crime scene to outside of his apartment. Moreover, police also used his cellphone provider’s data to further confirm that he was there at the time of the robbery.

This is obviously not a smart move when trying to carry out a robbery, this arrest points out some important facts about transit options that are privately owned. Firstly, do not commit a crime after verifying your name, credit card number and address to hire rent transportation, which can easily be tracked. Secondly, for the general population, they need to keep in mind that once they use the services of these private companies with their credit cards information, their information can be accessed.

Certainly, Uber only provided information about the alleged bank robber because it involved law enforcement with video footage as evidence. With the rise of scooter and companies invest more money in this venture, trying to loosen restrictions on this kind of vehicle, Uber and other companies with similar products will get access to more personal information. That can be useful to both the companies and law enforcement, but not so beneficial for consumers.