Boston Police Tracked a Carjacked Uber Driver’s Phone to Find Her Car
A Boston Uber driver told police she felt a cord or wire tighten around her neck at a South End intersection on November 6, 2025. Her car was taken with her phone still inside. Police used it to locate the car and arrested Christopher Dawkins, 24, of Dorchester. Boston police described the arrest.
Dawkins pleaded not guilty the next day in Boston Municipal Court and was held without bail, WBZ-TV reported. The charges include carjacking, strangulation, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and a stolen-vehicle offense. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
What police say happened
Officers responded to Massachusetts and Columbus avenues at about 6:30 p.m. They found the driver in distress and took her account of what happened before the car was stolen.
“The victim stated she had picked up the suspect in Cambridge,” police said. “A witness provided a statement, observing the victim struggling with a person in the back seat of the vehicle. The witness saw the victim manage to escape the vehicle and scream for help as the suspect moved from the rear seat to the driver’s seat and fled the scene in the victim’s car.”
A worker at a nearby pizza shop, Stergios Sanxaridis, told WBZ-TV the woman ran into the shop asking them to call 911. “She said that he pulled a wire around her neck and stole her car,” he said. “It seemed like she had a mark on her neck.” WBZ reported that the driver was taken to the hospital but did not appear to be seriously hurt.
How police found the car
The driver’s phone was still in the car. Officers tracked it to the area of Stanwood Street and Blue Hill Avenue, stopped the car, and arrested Dawkins without further incident, police said.
The arraignment
WBZ-TV reported that Dawkins was arraigned “on several charges, including carjacking, strangulation, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and larceny of a motor vehicle.” The station reported that he was due back in court November 13 and that the driver was granted a restraining order against him.
What Uber said
Uber banned Dawkins’s account, WBZ-TV reported. “What this driver experienced is terrifying,” a company spokesperson said. “We’ve been in contact with the driver to check on their wellbeing and are thankful to law enforcement for their quick action. We are standing by to assist however we can in their investigation.”
Sources
- Boston Police Department, “Suspect Arrested After Carjacking Uber Driver,” November 7, 2025
- WBZ-TV (CBS Boston), report on the arraignment of Christopher Dawkins, November 7, 2025
- Boston 25 News, “‘Find my iPhone’ app leads to arrest of man suspected in violent carjacking of Boston Uber driver,” by Frank O’Laughlin, November 7, 2025
- The Boston Globe, “Man arrested after allegedly carjacking Uber driver in Boston,” by Emily Sweeney, November 7, 2025
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