On December 4th, 2023, Bryce Alan Kowalczyk — a Platinum-tier RideNow driver operating in Austin, Texas's downtown bar district — was arrested and charged with theft, fraudulent use or possession of identifying information, and unauthorized use of a financial transaction card after investigators uncovered a 14-month scheme targeting intoxicated late-night passengers. Kowalczyk used the app's ride-request preview to prioritize pickups from bars and clubs between 1 and 3 a.m., then, when passengers fell asleep or left phones and wallets behind, held the items for one to three days while making small unauthorized charges and payment transfers kept deliberately under $200 to avoid triggering bank fraud alerts — before "finding" the item and returning it for a cash tip. The scheme affected at least 26 identified passengers and totaled roughly $38,000. It was uncovered after one victim's confused Reddit post connected her with three other passengers who had experienced nearly identical unexplained charges after riding with the same driver. Kowalczyk was sentenced to 4 years in state prison and permanently deactivated from every major rideshare platform. This video contains a dramatized reconstruction of the arrest based on the documented case record; confrontation dialogue is not a verbatim transcript. ––– Disclaimer: This video is a dramatization based on real events. Some visual content was created with artificial intelligence assistance. Some details have been fictionalized and all names have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.