http://wtop.com/prince-william-county/2017/05/cab-driver-charged-abducting-3-passengers-va/







A cab driver has been arrested and charged with locking three of his passengers in the car in a dispute over a fare in Woodbridge, Virginia, and driving off, leading them to jump out of the moving taxi.

The Prince William County police said that Muzemil Denbel, 30, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, picked up three women passengers, ranging in age from 22 to 32, in the early hours of Saturday in D.C. When they arrived at the women’s destination on Nassau Drive in Woodbridge at about 3:30 a.m., they argued over the fare, and Denbel locked the doors and drove off with the women in the cab, the police said.

The police said one of the women contacted a relative who began to drive after Denbel’s cab. Eventually, the three women managed to unlock the doors, jump out of the cab, get into the other vehicle and follow Denbel.

Denbel stopped about a mile away on Mapledale Avenue. The police arrived shortly thereafter, and arrested Denbel. He’s charged with three counts of abduction and is being held without bond, they say. He has a court date July 13.

The police said no one was hurt.

I would have a couple of questions to ask before forming an opinion on this.

Was the cab a D.C. cab, a Maryland cab or Virginia cab? The driver picked up the people in D.C. Still, there is a problem with out-of-state cabs taking street hails in D.C. There are some out of state cabs who make a point of running street hails in D.C., even though it is illegal. If you want an out of state cab to pick you up in D.C. and take you back to where the cab is licensed, call that cab company. If you are going to hail the cab, make sure that it has D.C. plates. Best yet, if you want a taxicab as opposed to just anybody who's driving his private car (Uber X or Lyft), if you're in D.C., you CAN get a real taxi FROM UBER. It's called Uber Taxi. Yup, you heard it RIGHT, folks, and you heard it RIGHT HERE: you CAN get a real taxi FROM UBER. You go for cab rates, Uber Taxi doesn't have surge pricing and Uber is a little more picky about what taxi drivers it allows to work with it. You call and pay for your Uber Taxi the same as you would any other Uber (Uber Black, Uber X, Uber Pool). You don't need any cash, you don't need to have your CC on you, you just call, ride, get out the same way as all the other Ubers. If you don't like the fare, you can protest it to Uber.
Uber usually responds to those complaints in a timely manner. Sadly, it's available only in D.C.

Did this driver have a hack license? While the coming of Uber has diminished the number of illegal cabs out there, there are still some. mostly those fired by Uber or Lyft or who couldn't get on board with them. If you get in a cab, make sure that the driver has a hack license showing on his right sun visor. If he doesn't ask to see it. He doesn't have to put it in your hand, but he does have to let you look at it. If he won't show it to you, GET OUT and hail another cab. There is also an ID or similar button on the console in the back seat. Press it and an electronic image of the hack license will come up. If the picture is not the driver, or if the license won't come up, GET OUT and hail another cab.

How did these people try to pay (or did they try to pay?)? D.C. cabs are required to accept credit cards. If you don't like the fare, pay with a credit card then protest the charge to your bank. Most banks credit card departments are sympathetic to consumer complaints of poor service from a merchant and will make adjustments. I have had it done many times, even once with a cab (in Chicago, though, not in D.C.). Let the driver know up front you want to pay with plastic. If he tells you it's not working, GET OUT and hail another cab.

The cities and counties do have complaint procedures and processes. If you take note of the cab number and where the cab comes from, you can submit a complaint where the cab is licensed. If it's a D.C. cab, you need only ONE of the following pieces of information to get the driver:

1. The driver's name.
2. The driver's hack license number.
3. The PVIN (Public Vehicle ID Number), which is on both sides of the top light as well as on the back and sides of the cab.
4. The license plate number of the cab.


You should also know the date and time of the incident as well as where.

The suburban jurisdictions have similar processes.


Understand that I am not blaming the victims on this one. This driver deserves the full penalties the law allows and I hope he gets them. This information is here more to prevent something like this from happening. Taking note of the information on the cab is useful in case you leave something in the cab. This helps to ID the driver and at least get him to look in the cab to see if your property is still there.

Understand that by the time you notice your property's missing, the driver might have picked up other customers who might have picked up your property. Still, if you can ID the driver, you increase the odds of getting back your stuff. Be aware, too, that you need more than the first name. If you tell them it was an Ethiopian driver named Tesfaye who wore glasses and drove a Prius, you won't get far. Every third male in Ethiopia is named Tesfaye and about 70% of D.C. cab drivers are Ethiopian. If you tell them his name is Tesfaye Ayalew, that narrows it down to maybe 10 or 15 drivers. The authorities can call 10 or 15 people. It's harder for them to call several hundred; in fact, they won't do it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Cut the BS. It was HOODbridge. That means it was a bunch of negroes who wooden pay the fare. Negroes R always trying to get over on people & then they wonder Y nobody likes them or wants 2 deal w/them.

I bet what happened was after driving them all the way from DC to Woodbridge these three people said they had no money and thought the cabbie would just let them go after stiffing him. People do this all the time. I'm sure this guy just snapped when faced with losing such a big fare.

Still not sure what his crime was. They were deadbeats unwilling to pay.

grophusharris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would have a couple of questions to ask before
> forming an opinion on this.
>
> Was the cab a D.C. cab, a Maryland cab or Virginia
> cab? The driver picked up the people in D.C.
> Still, there is a problem with out-of-state cabs
> taking street hails in D.C. There are some out of
> state cabs who make a point of running street
> hails in D.C., even though it is illegal. If you
> want an out of state cab to pick you up in D.C.
> and take you back to where the cab is licensed,
> call that cab company. If you are going to hail
> the cab, make sure that it has D.C. plates. Best
> yet, if you want a taxicab as opposed to just
> anybody who's driving his private car (Uber X or
> Lyft), if you're in D.C., you CAN get a real taxi
> FROM UBER. It's called Uber Taxi. Yup, you heard
> it RIGHT, folks, and you heard it RIGHT HERE: you
> CAN get a real taxi FROM UBER. You go for cab
> rates, Uber Taxi doesn't have surge pricing and
> Uber is a little more picky about what taxi
> drivers it allows to work with it. You call and
> pay for your Uber Taxi the same as you would any
> other Uber (Uber Black, Uber X, Uber Pool). You
> don't need any cash, you don't need to have your
> CC on you, you just call, ride, get out the same
> way as all the other Ubers. If you don't like the
> fare, you can protest it to Uber.
> Uber usually responds to those complaints in a
> timely manner. Sadly, it's available only in
> D.C.
>
> Did this driver have a hack license? While the
> coming of Uber has diminished the number of
> illegal cabs out there, there are still some.
> mostly those fired by Uber or Lyft or who couldn't
> get on board with them. If you get in a cab, make
> sure that the driver has a hack license showing on
> his right sun visor. If he doesn't ask to see it.
> He doesn't have to put it in your hand, but he
> does have to let you look at it. If he won't show
> it to you, GET OUT and hail another cab. There is
> also an ID or similar button on the console in the
> back seat. Press it and an electronic image of
> the hack license will come up. If the picture is
> not the driver, or if the license won't come up,
> GET OUT and hail another cab.
>
> How did these people try to pay (or did they try
> to pay?)? D.C. cabs are required to accept credit
> cards. If you don't like the fare, pay with a
> credit card then protest the charge to your bank.
> Most banks credit card departments are sympathetic
> to consumer complaints of poor service from a
> merchant and will make adjustments. I have had it
> done many times, even once with a cab (in Chicago,
> though, not in D.C.). Let the driver know up
> front you want to pay with plastic. If he tells
> you it's not working, GET OUT and hail another
> cab.
>
> The cities and counties do have complaint
> procedures and processes. If you take note of the
> cab number and where the cab comes from, you can
> submit a complaint where the cab is licensed. If
> it's a D.C. cab, you need only ONE of the
> following pieces of information to get the
> driver:
>
> 1. The driver's name.
> 2. The driver's hack license number.
> 3. The PVIN (Public Vehicle ID Number), which is
> on both sides of the top light as well as on the
> back and sides of the cab.
> 4. The license plate number of the cab.
>
>
> You should also know the date and time of the
> incident as well as where.
>
> The suburban jurisdictions have similar
> processes.
>
>
> Understand that I am not blaming the victims on
> this one. This driver deserves the full penalties
> the law allows and I hope he gets them. This
> information is here more to prevent something like
> this from happening. Taking note of the
> information on the cab is useful in case you leave
> something in the cab. This helps to ID the driver
> and at least get him to look in the cab to see if
> your property is still there.
>
> Understand that by the time you notice your
> property's missing, the driver might have picked
> up other customers who might have picked up your
> property. Still, if you can ID the driver, you
> increase the odds of getting back your stuff. Be
> aware, too, that you need more than the first
> name. If you tell them it was an Ethiopian
> driver named Tesfaye who wore glasses and drove a
> Prius, you won't get far. Every third male in
> Ethiopia is named Tesfaye and about 70% of D.C.
> cab drivers are Ethiopian. If you tell them his
> name is Tesfaye Ayalew, that narrows it down to
> maybe 10 or 15 drivers. The authorities can call
> 10 or 15 people. It's harder for them to call
> several hundred; in fact, they won't do it.


TL,DR etc.