3 sought after cab driver shot, crashes taxi in Point Breeze

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Sunday, February 7, 2016
VIDEO: Cab driver shot, crashes
Two men and a woman are wanted in connection with a shooting in the city's Point Breeze section.

POINT BREEZE (WPVI) -- Two men and a woman are wanted in connection with a shooting in the city's Point Breeze section.

Police say it all started at a Lukoil gas station at Broad and Wharton, when three people flagged down a cab.

The 38-year-old driver took them to 28th and Tasker, police say, where the man in the front passenger seat pulled a gun and demanded money.

The victim was shot in the arm, but kept driving with the passengers in the car.

Surveillance video from a local business shows the cab speeding down the street at 3:36am on Saturday.

He lost control in the 2300 block of Morris Street, hitting several parked cars.

The victim was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and is listed in stable condition.

"I come out, I see all the debris in the street, and I'm looking down and I heard the people in the cab and they were trying to get out," said Bonnie, who did not want to provide her last name.

Bonnie told police she saw a man and woman leave the cab and walk away.

A cab driver who was shot on the job in the Point Breeze section of Philadelphia is fighting for his life.

"The girl, she was trying to hide. But the guy was like, 'yeah he hit your cars, and he hit them on purpose," said Bonnie.

Police say the man in the front seat fled in an unknown direction.

They say the man and woman in the back seat - both carrying bags - fled westbound on Morris Street.

Two suspects are described as two black males in their 20s, with one being 5 feet 3-5 inches with a thin build and close-cropped hair. That suspect was seen wearing and three-fourths length coat and carrying a tote bag.

The female suspect is described as a black woman in her 20s, 5 feet 1 inch with a stocky build and long, wavy hair.

In the daylight, Nikirah Carter surveyed the extensive damage to her car where it was hit by the injured cab driver.

"It's on the curb. This is not how I parked the car last night," said Carter.

While she's not sure how she'll drive her daughter to school, she's relieved the cab driver wasn't killed.

"I'm glad he survived," said Carter.

On Broad Street we found a driver who also works for 215-Get-A-Cab who says he worries something like this might happen to him.

"Especially at night. We all worry about our lives. But we have to work," said Mohammed Islam of West Philadelphia.

We also spoke to another cab driver who said he doesn't drive at night because he doesn't feel safe.