A decision to pick up passengers off the street proved near fatal for a taxi driver, who later found himself in a remote area on the wrong end of a gun on Saturday night.
The driver, who is attached to the GR taxi service, escaped with his life, while the car he was driving was stolen and later found stripped to its bare frame.
The driver, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Stabroek News that he picked up the two robbers after he made a drop off at bar on Sheriff Street. The two men asked him to drop them off at Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara.
The taxi driver said usually he does not pick up customers off the road but there was nothing suspicious about the two men. “They even inquired about the fare,” he said.
There was no conversation from Sheriff to Covent Garden, he recounted, except for brief commentary about a male sex worker who looked like a woman.
When they arrived at Covent Garden, the men directed the taxi driver to the back of the area, where they paid him $2,000 and told him he could keep the change.
However, the driver then saw one of the men reach into his crotch and he then realised what was about to transpire.
Instantaneously, he raised his hands. “Buddy y’all ain’t gah kill meh,” the driver recalled saying, while his heart was like a horse on a racetrack.
One of the carjackers proceeded to press the gun on the man’s forehead. The other one then exited the vehicle and ordered him to step out.
He subsequently conducted a thorough search. The driver had the gun pointed to his face once again and he was asked to kneel on the ground.
“What am I kneeling down for?” the man recalled asking. He was then told to walk away but his feet were glued to the ground. According to the man, it was only after he heard one of the carjackers say, “Shoot he because like he ain’t want move,” that he rushed away. He then heard the car’s engine and that was the last time he saw the men.
The driver later made his way to the Providence Police Station, where he reported the carjacking. The car was spotted on Sunday morning with all of the parts removed.
Meanwhile, ‘A’ Divi-sion Commander Clifton Hicken said investigations were ongoing into the crime.
The driver said he is thankful that he is alive and well. In recent years, a number of taxi drivers have been killed in carjackings.
