A New York Metropolis taxi driver was killed early Saturday in Queens when he chased down passengers who tried to rob him, police stated.
Kutin Gyimah, 52, a married father of 4 younger children, was dropping off the 5 folks round 6:30 a.m. at Seaside 54th Road and Arverne Boulevard within the Rockaways when the mindless violence unfolded.
He ran after the group to confront them when not less than one of many passengers took a swing on the cabbie, sending him flying to the road, the place he cracked his head close to Arverne Playground, police stated.
The would-be thieves then took off towards Seaside Channel Driver, safety footage obtained by The Publish from a close-by bodega, Deli from the Block, exhibits.
Responding officers discovered the Bronx man mendacity within the roadway, close to a playground a couple of half block away, with “trauma to the again of his head,” the NYPD stated. He was pronounced lifeless at St. John’s Hospital.
“It is a poor hardworking man, how are you going to depart your private home and NOT return, that is outrageous. We're offended, we're in disbelief, we would like justice,” stated Fernando Mateo of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.
“These murderers have to be caught and we're providing a $15,000 reward . . . All funeral bills might be lined by the homeowners of Massive Apple Taxi Fleet Administration the place Mr. [Gyimah] labored,” he stated.
" class="wp-image-23451935"/>
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and “she assured us that the NYPD will discover these accountable,” he added.
Gyimah’s widow, Abigail, with whom he shares children ages 3, 5, 7 and eight, was “speechless — crying, wailing,” stated Mateo. “Each time she seems to be on the footage on the wall she breaks down.”
A GoFundMe for the household had raised greater than $17,000 by Saturday afternoon.
“All by means of the worst days of the pandemic, he was one of many few who nonetheless drove a cab to supply assist for our metropolis and its residents,” based on the net fundraiser.
A Metropolis Corridor spokesman known as Gyimah’s killing “not solely devastating, however unacceptable . . . We lengthen our deepest condolences to the sufferer’s household, mates, and coworkers throughout this painful time and we are going to work diligently to carry all folks accountable to justice.”
‘Wild, wild west out right here’
“The world is loopy, man, and it’s taking place in all places,” stated one deli buyer. “Persons are getting shot on the prepare and getting robbed, killed, slashed. It’s the wild, wild west out right here.”
Police sources stated the lethal beating was caught on video, though the NYPD didn't instantly verify that.
Mateo informed The Publish he deliberate to carry a information briefing Sunday with the sufferer’s household and “a sea of yellow cab drivers” in attendance.
The final crime-related loss of life of a yellow taxi driver was in July 2019, when a driver acquired out of his car in The Bronx and was run over by the cab as he chased a passenger who’d stolen his backpack, Mateo stated.
In July 1997, a 65-year-old yellow taxi driver was shot lifeless in an obvious theft on the East Facet.
The incident occurred within the a hundred and first Precinct, the place main crimes are down 5% in 2022 by means of Aug. 7 in comparison with the identical time final yr, however burglaries are up 11%, grand larcenies climbed 15%, automobile thefts jumped 18% and the variety of capturing victims has climbed by 29%, NYPD knowledge present.
Further reporting by Tina Moore and Haley Brown
Post a Comment