He hired an elderly driver to give him a lift, then stole his car and left him in the dirt

A man who allegedly carjacked an elderly driving service driver in July was arrested Wednesday by Fresno police.

Samuel Escamilla, 26, was wanted on suspicion of carjacking, robbery and assault of a 76-year-old Uber and Lyft driver on July 24.

Fresno police officers found Escamilla near Shields and Sierra Vista avenues and after identifying him notified Fresno County sheriff’s detectives who were searching for him.

On July 24, Escamilla and Elizabeth Sage, 30, were in a shopping center at First Street and McKinley Avenue talking with a 76-year-old man who works for the ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft. Sage and Escamilla told him they wanted to arrange a ride later that day, so the driver provided them his contact information.

Later in the day, Sage called the man and arranged for him to pick up Escamilla and her near First Street and Princeton Avenue and they agreed to a flat rate cash payment, rather than using Uber or Lyft mobile apps for the transaction.

They agreed to go to Fowler and Dinuba avenues, near Fowler. When they arrived in the Fowler area and pulled over to a dirt road, the driver thought they were lost.

That’s when Sage and Escamilla told the driver he was being robbed and demanded his keys, wallet and phone. The man turned off the car and then threw his keys out the window and into a vineyard and attempted to escape by running away.

Escamilla chased and tackled him and Sage held a knife to the man and threatened to hurt him unless he followed their directions. They found his keys in the dirt, got into the victim’s Jeep Cherokee and drove away. The victim walked to a nearby home to get help.

Two days later, deputies found the stolen Jeep Cherokee abandoned in an orchard near Clovis and Huntsman avenues.

Escamilla was booked into Fresno County Jail for carjacking, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon charges. His bail is $260,000.

His accomplice, Sage, was arrested on July 31. She is in Fresno County Jail facing similar felony charges. Her bail is $217,500.

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 5:14 PM with the headline "He hired an elderly driver to give him a lift, then stole his car and left him in the dirt."