Cab Driver Ends Up in Cuffs

Most cab rides in NYC are fairly predictable. A driver picks-up passengers, drops them off at a predetermined location, collects the fare and then continues on. But this trip was anything but predictable. A Staten Island woman, 44, reported to police being picked-up by a yellow taxi on Saturday, March 16, around 11 p.m. at 40th Street and Ninth Ave. She told the driver to drop her and her four children off at Whitehall and South Street. Upon exiting the cab at South Street, the woman reported she was holding two iPads in one hand and her money in the other. She then reportedly told the driver she didn't want to pay the fare until her husband, who was travelling in a separate cab, also arrived at the destination. She later explained to police she wanted to compare the fares and ensure she wasn't being overcharged. The woman reported that the driver, upset possibly by having to wait, then proceeded to yell and then push her while grabbing both iPads from her hands. The driver then fled. Police reported the driver then went to the 6th Precinct and claimed the woman had refused to pay her fare. Police recovered one of the iPads, valued at $350, at the precinct. The other iPad, reportedly worth $800, was unaccounted for. Police arrested the driver, a 27-year-old black man, for robbery and other pending charges.