Cab driver stabbed in Yonkers by customer during robbery, police say

YONKERS, New York (WABC) -- Police are looking for the man who robbed and slashed a livery driver in Yonkers early Thurday morning.

The 64-year-old driver was attacked on Cedar Place at 1:15 a.m.

The driver was stabbed in the torso and had defensive wounds on his hands after police say a passenger robbed him.

"There was a scuffle of some type with the cab driver getting out, the passenger also getting out," said an eyewitness, Elizabeth Marrero.

That scuffle woke up the families who live on Cedar Place. Police say the driver picked up a fare on the east side of town, and when he arrived at the final destination, the passenger pulled out a knife and demanded money.

They say the suspect stabbed the driver once in the torso inside of the car, then both men got out of the car, where the victim got sliced all over his hands trying to fight off his attacker who took off with $150 cash and a tablet.

"I just happened to hear what was going on and then momentarily you heard a thump, a door slam," said Marrero.

"This driver, although he was registered with a car service, hadn't been to his car service probably in a year," said Fernando Mateo of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers. "The car service knows nothing about it, meaning that it must have been an illegal street hail."

The victim was released from Jacobi Medical Center Thursday afternoon. Police confirm he was taking calls for service from a cell phone, and not from a taxi base where passenger info is recorded.

"We spoke to him on the phone today, and he basically says 'I'm an independent driver, I don't want to talk to anybody'", asid Mateo. "Why? Because he knows that what he did could have been avoided."

A knife was recovered at the scene.

No arrests have been made. The case is under investigation.

It is the second time in the past month that a livery cab driver has been stabbed in Yonkers.

On March 23rd, a driver was stabbed in the neck on North Broadway by a suspect who took off with his car. That suspect was later arrested.

Police said that anyone with information on the case is asked to call (914) 377-7424.