66-year-old Pakistani Uber Eats Driver Killed During Attempted Carjack by Two Teenage Girls

A 66-year-old Uber Eats driver has died after two teenage girls allegedly attempted to carjack him outside Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on March 23. Mohammad Anwar of Springfield, Virginia, who immigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan in 2014, was making deliveries in the area near the Navy Yard Metro station, when the two girls, ages 15 and 13, got into his car. Anwar reportedly drove with them a short distance to the Nationals Park.

A cell phone video taken by a witness and posted on several news media outlets, including NBC News, shows Anwar’s grey Honda Accord crashing into a parking car, after which it flipped over on its side. Anwar died in the hospital. There was a struggle inside Anwar’s sedan, and the car accelerated, crashing into parked vehicles and bending a metal rack before turning on its side.

Quoting the police, the New York Post reported that Anwar had partially left the car and was wedged between the door and the driver’s seat as the teenagers allegedly put the vehicle in gear. “It lurched forward with Anwar still hanging from it,” the New York Post said, quoting officials. 

The same video shows the national troopers pulling the two girls from the car. They are charged with felony murder and armed carjacking. The Washington Post, citing court testimony from homicide unit Detective Chad Leo, reported that one of the girls told Metropolitan Police officers that they both set out with at least one stun gun specifically to steal a car that day. Authorities did not identify the girls because they are charged as juveniles. 

Why they targeted Anwar remains unclear. 

Anwar is survived by his wife and two adult children in the U.S. and an adult son and four grandchildren in Pakistan, according to his family.

The March 23 incident “is the latest in the wave of carjackings that began last year in the District and in suburban Maryland, and is continuing this year,” the Washington Post reported. “In February, authorities launched a carjacking task force, combining the resources of the FBI with police in D.C. and Montgomery County to help solve cases that cross jurisdictional lines. Authorities say many cases involve juvenile suspects.”

A GoFundMe page set up for Anwar’s “traditional Islamic funeral” and to assist his family with the loss of income, describes him as “a beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend who always provided a smile when you needed one.” Anwar was the financial provider for his family. 

The page is set up by Lehra Bogino, who’s husband was Anwar’s nephew. “Anwar leaves behind a family, near and far, who cherish, love, and miss him dearly,” the page adds.Anwar “was a hard-working Pakistani immigrant who came to the United States to create a better life for him and his family,” Bogino, says. “He was simply at work yesterday evening, providing for his family, when his life was tragically taken in an appalling act of violence.”

She continues: “Words can not describe how our family is feeling currently. Devastation, confusion, shock, anger, heartache, and anguish are just a few that come to mind. We will carry him with us always, but it doesn’t take the pain away of losing him so tragically and so unexpectedly soon.” 

Uber offered its condolences to Anwar’s family in a statement. “We are devastated by this tragic news and our hearts go out to Mohammad’s family during this difficult time,” the statement said, according to NBC News. “We’re grateful the suspects have been arrested and thank the Metropolitan Police Department for their diligence with this investigation.

Last month, Subhakar Khadk, a 32-year-old Nepali American Uber driver was attacked in San Francisco, by three women, after he reportedly asked one of them to wear a mask.