A taxi driver’s dashcam video captured his own assault and robbery on Tuesday by a group of identically dressed suspects.
The dashcam video made its way onto Facebook Tuesday afternoon and showed a taxi driver being assaulted by several suspects in purple hoodies.
ROBBERY AND ASSAULT on cab driver, 34xx Girard Ave N12:59 https://www.facebook.com/NMPLScrimewatch/posts/3522394627783368
Posted by North Minneapolis Crime Watch & Information on Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Two hours prior to the video’s release, just before 1 p.m., a police scanner incident page on Facebook had posted that a taxi driver had been robbed and assaulted by several suspects on the 3400 block of Girard Avenue North in Minneapolis, and that the victim was bleeding from the head.
Recorded police dispatch audio from that date confirms the robbery and injury report, and stated that an ambulance had been dispatched for the victim. Further dispatches in the audio stated that the taxi driver had picked up the suspects in downtown Minneapolis prior to bringing them to the location of the assault.
The suspects can be seen in the video breaking through a plastic barrier separating the driver’s compartment from the passenger compartment while the cab is still in motion.
As the driver pulls over, the suspects begin grabbing at the cab driver. One of the suspects puts him in a chokehold as another one of the suspects punches at the camera in an apparent attempt to disable it.
The cab driver attempted to fight back but was restrained by his own seat belt. The suspects eventually fled from the scene and reportedly got into a black sedan with no plates, according to the dispatch audio.
As the cab driver was being assaulted, the front-facing view on the video showed that the cab began moving forward and appeared to crash into another vehicle. An image captured from another Facebook video of the aftermath showed that the taxi apparently rear-ended another vehicle during the incident.
Jeremy Kramer, who manages drivers for several taxi companies under the parent company Blue and White Taxi, told Alpha News that this was the third assault on one of his drivers in a week.
In late July, Abdirashid Omar, another one of Kramer’s drivers, was killed in a shooting after he confronted two people trying to break into his cab in south Minneapolis.
“That one was hard,” Kramer said.
There has been no word from officials on whether suspects in the July homicide or Tuesday’s assault have been identified.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
