Man Sentenced to 8½ Years in Prison for Hijacking Uber Eats Driver

A man was sentenced to 8½ years in prison Thursday for hijacking an Uber Eats driver near Goose Island in December 2024, a case that prosecutors said was resolved through the coordinated efforts of police in the air and on the ground.

David Brantley, 19, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular hijacking and received the lengthy sentence from Cook County Judge Thomas Byrne. The judge sentenced Brantley’s accomplice, Tayvon Andrews, also 19, to nine years last month.

The case stemmed from a December 8, 2024, carjacking that targeted a 25-year-old delivery driver working for Uber Eats. Prosecutors said the driver was sitting in his 2016 Toyota sedan around 8:45 p.m. in the 800 block of West Blackhawk Street when the two men approached.

Andrews allegedly displayed a gun while ordering the driver out of the car. Prosecutors said the victim complied, and the men drove off with Brantley behind the wheel and Andrews in the passenger seat.

Chicago police quickly located the stolen Toyota from the air using a CPD helicopter, and Illinois State Police troopers joined the response on the ground as officers tracked the car across the city.

The pursuit ended about an hour later, around 9:45 p.m., when the Toyota crashed near 87th Street and State Street, according to a Chicago police report. State troopers arrested Andrews and Brantley at the scene and turned them over to CPD.

At the time of the hijacking, Brantley had an active stolen motor vehicle case pending in juvenile court and was in warrant status for failing to comply with court conditions, prosecutors said at the time. The outcome of the juvenile case is not available because those records are shielded from public review.

The case highlighted a law enforcement approach that has become increasingly common in Chicago. In the wake of costly civil lawsuits tied to injuries and deaths from police vehicle pursuits, CPD leaders have discouraged officers from engaging in high-speed chases. Instead, the department’s helicopter unit frequently tracks fleeing vehicles from the air, while ground units position themselves nearby.

Illinois State Police, who operate under different pursuit guidelines and have more specialized training, sometimes take a more active role on the ground. In other cases, CPD units shadow suspects on parallel streets until a vehicle stops or crashes without engaging in a direct pursuit.