DETROIT – Officials said a Detroit man carjacked four different Lyft drivers at gunpoint and forced those drivers to remove clothing after submitting late-night requests from various locations around the city.
Darese Deandre Haile, 21, was named in a criminal complaint filed Nov. 10.
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Court records show Haile has a previous criminal history that includes supervised probation with the Michigan Department of Corrections until Nov. 10, 2024. One of his probation terms is that he can’t own, use, or have control of any weapon.
RELATED: ‘It’s not worth the money’: Carjackers target Lyft drivers in Detroit
May 12 carjacking
A Lyft driver told police that someone requested a ride at 12:38 a.m. May 12 from the 5500 block of Pennsylvania Street in Detroit.
The driver arrived at 12:44 a.m. in his red 2016 Ford Escape and saw two men approaching with handguns, according to authorities.
The men demanded the driver give them money, so he handed over $900, officials said. They then told him to get out of the SUV and take his pants off, court records show. The driver handed his pants to the men, who got into the Escape and fled.
Officials said the driver ran down the street to a home on Gratiot Avenue and called Detroit police.
June 8 carjacking
Another Lyft driver was requested at 2:46 a.m. June 8 by someone in the 4000 block of Field Street in Detroit.
The driver responded at 2:58 a.m. and went to pick up the Lyft user in his blue 2021 Dodge Durango, according to the criminal complaint.
When the driver arrived, two men approached while brandishing handguns, police said. The driver turned around and the men told him to put his hands on the steering wheel. They then ordered him out of the SUV and told him to take off his clothes, according to officials.
Police said the men got into the Durango and fled. The Lyft driver ran down the street to a home on Gratiot Avenue and called Detroit police.
June 9 carjacking
A Lyft user requested a ride at 3:06 a.m. June 9 from the 18000 block of Gallagher Street in Detroit.
A driver responded to the request at 3:22 a.m. and went to the location in his black 2021 Dodge Ram 1500.
As the driver approached a stop sign, he said he saw someone waving a flashlight behind him. He turned around and saw two men waiting, so he asked to see their Lyft account.
They showed him a Lyft account, so the driver allowed them to get into the pickup.
When they got in the back, the men brandished handguns and said, “Give us everything you have,” the criminal complaint says.
The man sitting behind the passenger seat got out, walked over to the driver’s door, and opened it, police said. The other man continued sitting behind the driver while pointing the handgun at him, court records show.
The man in the back seat told the driver to get out, and he did the same, according to authorities. He told the driver to take off his clothes, shoes, and glasses.
Officials said the driver told the men, “Don’t shoot me.” One of the men hit the driver in the face with a handgun, and the driver blacked out, authorities said.
When he regained consciousness, the driver said he started to walk away from the truck. The two men got inside and fled.
Police said the driver ran down the street to a restaurant and called authorities. When officers arrived, they found his clothes, shoes, and glasses on the ground in front of the Gallagher Street address.
Oct. 3 carjacking
A Lyft user named “Travis” requested a ride at 3:06 a.m. Oct. 3 from the 18000 block of Wexford Street in Detroit.
A driver responded to the request at 3:18 a.m. and went to the location in a black 2017 Mazda 6.
When the driver arrived, he was approached by two men. One opened the back passenger door and waved a handgun, demanding the driver get out and take off his clothes, according to authorities.
The other man opened the driver’s door and pulled the driver out. The men took the driver’s clothing, his Apple iPhone, and his wallet before fleeing in the car.
Linking Haile to carjacking incidents
Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives received records from Lyft about the account that had requested the ride on May 12. A Google voice generated telephone number had been used to request the ride, officials learned.
The Google account used to request that number belonged to Haile, according to authorities.
ATF agents linked Haile to an address on Lamphere Street in Detroit and determined his social security number matched the information on the Google Play account.
Records for the number linked to Haile showed interactions on June 8 at 2:57 a.m., 2:59 a.m., and 3 a.m. A call had been placed at 3:21 a.m. June 9 and at 3:17 a.m. Oct. 3.
On July 20, an ATF agent called the phone number linked to the incidents and asked for Haile. The man who answered the phone acknowledged that he was Haile, authorities said.
On Oct. 11, eight days after being carjacked, the fourth Lyft driver was showed a six-person photo array of people and picked out Haile as the person who carjacked him, the criminal complaint says.
Location data from cell towers show Haile’s phone was near the location of all four carjackings at the times of the incidents, the ATF reports:
- May 12: The device communicated with a cell tower .56 miles away from the pickup location about 10 minutes prior.
- May 15: The device communicated with a cell tower .58 miles away from the intersection of Eaton and Birwood avenues, which is where Detroit police found the stolen Ford Escape on May 19.
- June 8: The device communicated with a cell tower .43 miles away from the pickup location at 2:57 a.m., 2:59 a.m., and 3 a.m.
- Shortly afterward, the device communicated with a cell tower .54-.79 mies away from the Grayfield Street location, where the stolen Durango was found.
- June 9: The device communicated with a cell tower .26 miles away from the pickup location about one minute prior.
- Oct. 3: The device communicated with a cell tower .47 miles away from the pickup location within 10 minutes before and one minute after the request.
- Shortly afterward, the device communicated with a cell tower .45 miles away from Compass Street and Ward Avenue, where the stolen Mazda 6 was found on Oct. 4
ATF officials said Haile was still using the same phone number as recently as Nov. 8.
Charges
The criminal complaint concludes there’s probable cause that Haile was involved in the carjackings.
