Jake Tapper reported on CNN’s State of the Union that police say the Uber driver who ran down and killed in a crosswalk a New York City woman with his car was an illegal immigrant who posed as a ride service driver to take her home.
Police have charged Sayfullo Saipov with murder in connection with the Sept. 29 crash. Prosecutors say Saipov acted in a “terror-related fashion.”
Police found items in Saipov’s apartment and the car that left the scene of the crash that authorities believe are related to the case, but they are not releasing further details.
In addition to the death of 29-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, Saipov is accused of leading police on a chase and carjacking in Brooklyn before crashing his rented Home Depot truck in the White Plains area. He suffered several gunshot wounds in the confrontation.
The NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill tells a briefing that Saipov’s friends believed he was a “legal US citizen.” The NYPD also confirmed Saipov was an Iranian national.
Saipov was previously an Uber driver and investigators say they are tracking him down the ride app.
But that’s not the only connection between this case and another case in the city involving a Uzbek immigrant. O’Neill said that as Saipov tried to make his way to Washington D.C. in the rented truck he told another Uber driver at a Queens stopover, “my husband has a weakness for blondes.”
The motive for Saipov’s alleged attack has not been revealed by police, but some officials have described the incident as an act of terror.
CNN’s Grant Delpit contributed to this report.