Uber ride turns into nightmare for recent Texas A&M graduate

HOUSTON – A pair of robbers stole Daniel Reyes' most prized possession: his Texas A&M class ring.

The theft marked the conclusion of a night Reyes considers a nightmare.

"The whole ordeal lasted about two hours," Reyes said.

The ordeal started at the intersection of San Jacinto Street and McIlhenny Street in Midtown. Reyes and a friend left a bar July 27, and walked over to what they thought was their Uber ride.

"My friend asked, 'Is this for Daniel?' They said, 'Yes,' (the) driver said, 'Yes.' We got in. As soon as we got in, someone else got in the front seat," Reyes said.

Reyes told KPRC2 he and a friend got into a silver Nissan SUV, which took off, taking him and a friend for a ride that lasted nearly an hour.

"They started driving around kinda just randomly, different directions," Reyes said.

Reyes shared a screen grab of map, showing where he went. His phone tracked the trip.

"It was all over the loop," he said, describing the moments of panic as he and a friend were being held against their will.

"We were going down 45 at some point, down south toward Galveston and at one point we went back up," Reyes said.

The ride ended in Third Ward. Reyes' phone tracked the drop-off point.

Once they got out of the vehicle, Reyes said he and his friend confronted their captors.

"We kind of confronted them. They took the ring off my finger -- my Aggie ring. They took my phone out of my hand," Reyes said, adding the pair stole cash from his friend and his phone, as well.

It's the class ring that hurts most, Reyes, a 2016 graduate of Texas A&M said.

"For them to take away the single most prominent symbol of what I did, it really just cuts deep. Hurts to the core," he said.

Reyes said his name is etched inside the ring. It also has the year 2016 on it.

After the robbers let them go, Reyes said he and a friend ran to a gas station and called Houston police.

He described the vehicle being driven as a silver Nissan Armada.

As for the driver posing as an Uber employee, the ride-sharing company has tips for customers to avoid fraudulent trips.

Police also recommend allowing the driver to say the name of the person being picked up first. That way there us no confusion as to whether the ride is legitimate.

More tips are on Uber's website.

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