Uber driver abandoned teen in B.C. parking lot, family says

A Vancouver mom says she wants Uber to hold one of its drivers accountable for leaving her 14-year-old daughter in a parking lot in Burnaby.

Brenna Ricci regularly uses Uber to get her teenage daughters from school to their dance lessons, which they take in separate locations more than 20 minutes apart.

On Tuesday, the Uber driver picked up both girls from their Burnaby school and drove them to her 13-year-old’s lesson at Dance Collective on Lougheed Hwy.

“This time, he dropped off the first child and then decided to call me and say that he wasn’t going to drop off my second child,” Ricci told CTV News.

With her little sister already inside taking her lesson, 14-year-old Elia Ricci started to panic.

“I was kind of just freaking out because my phone’s dead. I can’t call anyone; can’t book my own Uber now,” said Elia.

She was a 20-minute drive from her dance studio Dancin’ Stars and more than a half-hour from home.

“I called my other daughter, who was already in her dance studio, in a panic, and I kept calling her until she picked up. I had her run out of the dance studio in her ballet uniform, searching frantically for her sister,” said Brenna.

Luckily, she was able to get through and connect the two teens.

The whole ordeal has left the family shaken and wary of using Uber again.

“I was freaking out and panicking and getting really scared,” said Elia.

Brenna said she’s reached out to Uber three times to get answers on what, if any, repercussions the driver will face. She says the company has been vague.

“I am not that hopeful that there will be a proper resolution in a timeline that I want,” Brenna said. “I’d like this rectified sooner than later so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Uber told CTV News it’s looking into the matter, reaching out to the driver to figure out what happened.