ST. LOUIS - Last week, police arrested four teens in north St. Louis County after a chase, accusing them of carjacking an Uber driver.

After being released by police, the same teens allegedly committed the same crime in the same neighborhood a little more than 24 hours later—this time carjacking a Lyft driver.

“These back-to-back crimes highlight the continued challenges our community faces, especially when it comes to violent crime involving juveniles," said Mitch McCoy, director of Public Affairs for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) during a news conference last week.

Police say they’re frustrated with how the juvenile courts handle cases like these, but St. Louis attorney Johnny Simon believes rideshare companies also need to be held accountable.

“What did the rideshare companies know, right? What did Uber know? What did Lyft know, and what could they have told the drivers to potentially prevent the outcomes that we're seeing, which are, you know, repeated carjackings,” Simon said.

Simon is seeking answers to those questions in the courtroom. He’s representing Rochelle Ameer in a wrongful death lawsuit against Lyft.

Ameer’s son, Andrew, was killed while driving for the company in 2020.

“Things weren't done right and maybe if they were, this wouldn't have happened, and I don't want it to happen to anyone else," Rochelle said.

On March 3, the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed a trial court's decision to dismiss Ameer's wrongful death lawsuit against Lyft.

For the first time in Missouri history, the court ruled a rideshare app is a "product" and subject to Missouri's product liability laws.

Simon recently scored another victory against Lyft.

While they wait for a trial date, Simon hopes the case will one day provide greater transparency and safety in the rideshare industry.

“Whether it be a passenger injured by a driver, say, like a sexual assault, or, say, a carjacking, murder or something like that, for a rideshare driver, what that means is they will have an opportunity to actually conduct discovery, to find out what the company knew and when they knew it, and what could have been done to prevent incidents like that from occurring,” Simon said.

Regarding the lawsuit, Lyft said it cannot comment on pending litigation. The company did offer a statement about last week’s carjacking. It reads in part:

“Our thoughts are with the driver, and we have reached out to offer support. We have permanently removed the rider from the Lyft platform and stand ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation.”

Uber also responded to us about the attack on its driver last week, saying:

“We are deeply concerned by this attack on a member of the Uber community. Safety is a top priority and is built into the Uber app. We banned the rider’s account and have been in contact with law enforcement to help support their investigation.”