Cabbie slashed across face by belligerent passenger in the Bronx
THE BRONX, New York City (WABC) -- A student working as a livery cab driver to pay his way through medical school is likely scarred for life after he was beaten and slashed across the face by a belligerent passenger in the Bronx, the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers says.
Raymond Adjetey picked up the man who would be his attacker on the night of August 5.
"On the way to the address, he was on the phone with his girlfriend. They were arguing back and forth," Adjetey said.
After not one, but two change of locations, Adjetey had had enough and asked the passenger to get out of the car and that's when the man attacked him.
"The guy was like 'if you don't drive this car I will beat the **** out of you.' That's when he started beating me up. He hit me with his phone," Adjetey said.
That phone cracked, but that wasn't the end of it.
"He took a knife out and told me that if I don't drive the car he's going to stab me," Adjetey said.
Fearful, Adjetey did just that taking the car to the Tracey Towers on Mosholu Parkway and threatened the man that he was going to call 911.
"He said that if he goes to jail he's going to do seven years in jail. So he would rather cut me in my face so at least, even if he's in jail, I too have a mark on my face. The moment he said that he smashed me and ran away," Adjetey said.
The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers is asking the NYPD for camera images that they can share with their drivers.
"The driver will receive sort of like an amber alert on his phone with the image of the person who just committed the crime. So that person doesn't commit it over and over and over again. And the drivers don't know what's going on," NYSFTD spokesman Fernando Mateo said.
As for Adjetey, he expects he'll need further reconstructive surgeries to repair his face.
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