Weather
13.4°C Cloudy
E 9 km/h
Full Forecast
Downloads Thunder Bay Source

Browse classifieds   Purchase an ad
Northwestern Ontario Immigration Portal
Red Rock Indian Band

Aerosmith Newswatch
News
Subscribe
Photo Gallery
Community Calendar
More Events
Poll
The LU Thunderwolves have opened training camp. After hosting nationals for the past two years, do you believe the team will make the nationals in Fredericton?



Total Votes: 127
View Results Past Polls
Bookmark and Share
Recommended 2 times. 2 Recommend
2010-02-07 at NOON

Taxi driver robbed

By tbnewswatch.com
103.5 The ThunderHave Breakfast with Brent each weekday morning on The Thunder, Today's Country Music Station, 103.5 & 104.5http://www.thethunder.ca
Two men who robbed a taxicab driver at knifepoint remain at large.

Thunder Bay Police Service officials say a Roach’s Yellow Taxi driver picked up two male passengers in the Westfort area around 4 a.m. Saturday. The driver drove the two men to the Limbrick Street area.

When the cab arrived to its destination, police say a suspect placed a sharp-edged object to the back of the driver’s neck. Police say the passengers then demanded money while disabling the radio. The two males fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.

Police say the driver was shaken but not seriously harmed.

Police describe the two suspects as Aboriginal men. One of the suspects is believed to be between the ages of 20 and 25, and weighing about 200 pounds. He wore jeans and a dark jacket at the time of the robbery.

The investigation continues.
TbNewsWatch.com

Click here to report a typo or error

Tbnewswatch.com(25)

Comments for this story are semi-moderated.  Read our Comment Guideline
You must log in to add comments.
Create a new account
Forgot password?
Log In
 
 
Comments
spring77 says:
These taxi drivers are long due to have some kind of protection. Why don't they have it now? Does it take another death to have them put in? It's better sooner for their safty rather then we told you so and look what has happen? It could be anyone someones husband, wife, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, aunt, or uncle lost over their job. Stop waiting around, and worrying about the cost? It's peoples life's at risk on the job isn't that important?
2010-02-13 at 20:46
tribaltaylor says:
My parents owned a very successful cab company in Thunder Bay for many years before deciding to sell. My father who drove for many years, was once beaten severely. The men who beat him received such a small sentence, it was and is appalling. But, my father was the first and I guess only local cab company to install the glass partitions. But once he sold, the buyer decided not to keep the glass partitions. What a mistake that was!
2010-02-09 at NOON
standswithpitchfork says:
I don't take cabs, so really I don't know what kind of security they have on board with them.

But what if a driver, brought their own laptop, or the owners ( which I hear from this forum are incredibly cheap, and disreguard the safety of the workers ) purchased laptops for each of their cars... put the laptop under the seat and put a web cam on the dash.. set the camera to take a picture every minute, or 30 seconds.. when a fair is uneventful, the images can get deleted during a moment of down time...but if their should happen to be an incident, the driver would have images of the criminals

Another handy tool might be a digital recorder. Record conversations of fairs and if in the end the fair says he/she isn't paying, or there is an altercation, then who said what has been recorded.

I'm not sure if it would be allowed, or if you would need a sticker saying the car had camera or recording servelance. But thought I would share anyways.
2010-02-08 at 22:28
abra says:
I agree with the earlier comment - cab drivers are usually very pleasant, very down to earth, and helpful in spite of an extremely high risk, low status ocupation. They are among the most poorly paid working people and like most service workers rely on tips to make their wages meet minimum. Unfortunately this is a case of the poor robbing the poor - who are further exploited by the business owners. If anyone needs a strong union it is these types of workers. A social union forms to spread the wealth accumulated by mogals and businesses to the workers. Unfortunately, the only effective unions in operation these days are those associated with municipal or provincial workers where there is only tax money to spread greedily around.
2010-02-08 at 6:00 PM
chezhank says:
As much as they listen to the union president,Baor!
2010-02-08 at 17:24
baor says:
Cause the PSB ALWAYS listens to you Chez.
2010-02-08 at 15:33
Jaded says:
@chezhank If you think it will have any effect, feel free. I don't have much faith in protection from any authority figure any more, whether it be police, political officials or other. I'm just not willing to throw my husband and other drivers under the bus to try. :)

@jb Not really. You can always choose to walk, call a friend or ride the bus. If someone makes the choice to get in the cab, then they better be prepared to pay the fare. Having an issue with the rates doesn't excuse people taking it out of the pockets of the drivers, right?
2010-02-08 at 14:15
chezhank says:
Jaded ....I hear what you are saying....if you would like I'll put the request to the police board on behalf of all cab drivers.I'll send this forum and news item to the police chief,mayor and councillor Virdiramo.
2010-02-08 at 13:54
jb says:
Unfortunately, it's at the point where you have to rob one just to pay the fare. It's pretty sad that it's cheaper to rent a car for the day than it is to take a cab across town.
2010-02-08 at 13:13
Jaded says:
Erm, one last thing wulf. An average driver makes much more than $5 hour, especially if he's doing his job properly. My husband supports a very large family of kids and animals off his cab driving. I'm not sure where you heard that figure from, but it's incredibly inaccurate.
2010-02-08 at 13:11
Jaded says:
@wulf / Three companies, four owners (Roach's has joint ownership). But you're right as to not one of them putting forth a red cent if they're not legally mandated to, and even then, they've learned how to cut corners and "bend" the bylaws to save money here or there. I swear, if regular citizens knew the actual conditions of those cars, and where the money is saved, they'd resort to riding the bus.

@dagwood / Are you aware that a very good portion of a cab drivers income is from the cash tips he receives? I would be absolutely devastated if cash transactions were abolished, because that would cut my household income by enough that it would definitely hurt. Besides, a driver can still be robbed for the money in his wallet, when he's at the disadvantage of having his passengers in open contact directly behind him.

@chezhank / I wish it were that easy, but considering the lack of employment in this city, and the petty nature of some of the company owners (one driver lost his charge account for using a cab from a competing company after waiting over an hour for a cab from the company he worked for), the drivers are not going to risk their positions for this, and I'm not going to risk my husbands, either. A job is a job. Even an unsafe job is better than no income whatsoever. And I know, the idealist response is "Well they can't fire for that, take them to the labor board!" They have, and they will, always disguising it as something else. You don't rock the boat when you haven't got a life raft.

To everyone who recommends cab drivers getting a different line of work, why do you think they're driving cabs to begin with?
2010-02-08 at 13:07
Dar says:
I belive this is just one of many similar incidents to come and will just lead to vigilante justice from the drivers themselves as it is very unlikely for these suspects to get caught .
2010-02-08 at 11:36
wulf says:
Cabs in Thunder Bay WERE unionized 10-12 years ago but it didn;t work. Partitions? NEVER happen unless legislated. The 2 owners in the City wouldn't spend a red cent on such things. Driver safety? They could care less. ALL either company cares about is how much $ they can rake in from the public. Rather handy when 2 companies/people control virtually ALL the Taxi Business isn't it? Average driver...lucky to make an average of about $5/hour....an outrage.
2010-02-08 at 10:20
hurricanejeck says:
well thanks for the description, how am I supposed to get around town, and be aware of..." Police describe the two suspects as Aboriginal. One of the males is believed to be between the ages of 20 – 25, approximately 200 pounds and wore jeans and a dark jacket."

that really helps the GOOD citizens out alot. I'm sure the Cabbie was in shock, but I'll bet the description was much clearer, and you gotta figure the destination wasn't far from their haunt...
I really hope the Cabbie moves to better job and the perps get properly dealt with.
the citizens of Tbay are getting tired of tolerating this crap!!

2010-02-08 at MIDNIGHT
vroom says:
It's funny how my whole life i've never met a jerk cab driver, yet most of their clients are the complete opposite. I agree with Jaded's posting 100%. At the very least the matter should be looked into to.
2010-02-08 at MIDNIGHT
NDNKAR says:
I agree with any and all initiatives which support driver safety by installing glass partitions. It's simple common sense.
2010-02-07 at 23:49
Dagwood2 says:
I again call upon the taxi Industry to eliminate all cash transactions in their fare structure. Credit Card and Debit only and the card either debit or credit would be handed over to the driver before the car or van moves.This would eliminate the driver carrying any cash on his person while in the vehicle.If you don't have a debit or credit card then take a bus.
2010-02-07 at 21:46
eddylives says:
I'll bet if they were unionized the company's would not get away with these obvious unsafe working conditions....and if they are , time to make a stand.

thook.....I remember one driver that was killed in a robbery like this a number of years ago and it made no difference.....
2010-02-07 at 21:30
Wulf says:
The Taxi By-Law states drivers can and SHOULD ask for Cash in Advance of trips at any time between 7PM & 7AM. You don't like that? WALK. I had a few over the years that I drove hack decided they would to just that. It is probably the WORST job I ever had. Lousy 15 hour days, drunks, people who just want to fight & dispatchers who were jerks. GOt out & onto better things thank God.
2010-02-07 at 21:22
TWM says:
Aboriginals have a difficult time bringing understanding and empathy towards themselves without this happening, I hope they catch the "perps" regardless of their race. Unfortunate that these criminals only add to the stigma.
2010-02-07 at 20:05
heshoots67 says:
CAB DRIVERS SHOULD CARRY A GUN WITH THEM JUST LIKE IN THE STATES.
2010-02-07 at 19:13
panzerIV says:
Money is something that is printed every day, we spend, give and save it everyday. Its something that can be easily attained or lost but something that can't is a life. I agree with Jaded that the lives of these people are in great danger every time they turn on there cars. They want change and we don't want to read the fact another taxi driver or anyone got hurt. One thing i could see the taxi drivers doing as a coalition is the refusal to work due to unsafe conditions. If everyone joined together in this cause it could just get the companies to smart up.
2010-02-07 at 6:00 PM
thook says:
It really isn't that big of a deal to have this glass installed. The cab companies are type of business in this city that really dont care about their customers or drivers. You only have to call or meet with these people a few times to realize this. one solution could be something that is brought to city council and have a new bi-law adopted mandating that cab companies protect their drivers. If that is not successful why not approach the ministry of labour. The MOL visits my place of work a few times a month handing out fines and making orders for petty things. This seems like an unsafe workplace to me If they continue to be robbed. Its time that businesses are held accountable for keeping their employees safe, more so when it is an on going issue and they turn a blind eye. My prediction is someone will die driving cab and then something will be done. Thats how these things work. disgusting.
2010-02-07 at 17:18
chezhank says:
Jaded....since it is the police board that controls cabs in this city,I suggest you and others get together(or alone) and give a deputation at the police board and demand separation glass.You can also contact the mayor(who probably will not reply) or Mr. Virdaramo who sit on the police board.
2010-02-07 at 15:41
Jaded says:
First of all, as the wife of someone who's been driving cab for the past 5 years, let me point out a few things.

1. While it's nice to see this reported in the paper, people are soon going to make the mistake of thinking this is a rare occurrence. It is anything BUT. Drivers have been enduring assaults and robberies on an increasing basis, and it gets little to no exposure.

2. 99% of these events could be avoided if the companies would pay to install safety glass in the cabs, in order to protect their drivers. Although this has been requested of them, they refuse. Of course not, it's not their health in danger, so why pony up the dough?

3. The driver is the one losing money in this event, which likely is one of the main reasons he was shaken. The company will be reimbursed, because a police report was filed, but the driver has just lost his commission, his initial float he's required to carry (the average is $60-$100), and any tips he's made that night. Although I'm sure the event was traumatic for him (it always is) the focus will end up being on the fact that the company is losing nothing. His family is losing groceries for a few weeks.

Policy at these companies has GOT to change, and they NEED to protect their drivers. The cost of safety glass is less than the value of someones life.
2010-02-07 at 14:08
Thunder Bay Television Rock 94 CKPR CFNO The Thunder
Copyright 2010 Dougallmedia. Privacy Policy  Terms Of Use  Contact Us  Advertise With Us