Driver Charges Student $4K for Ride From O'Hare

Police say someone took more than $4,000 from a new University of Illinois student who had just arrived in Chicago from China.

University of Illinois police Sgt. Tom Geis said the 18-year-old student was looking for a bus to the Urbana-Champaign campus after arriving at O'Hare International Airport on Aug. 20. The student was approached by a man who said the bus wouldn't come for hours but offered to drive the student for $1,000.

Some bus services advertise fares of less than $30 for the trip.

Geis told The News-Gazette in Champaign that the two drove to Urbana. The driver then handed the student a hand-written bill for $4,800. The students paid the man all he had, about $4,240. The student also left his cell phone behind.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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