Cab driver stabbed by angry passenger on Chicago's Magnificent Mile
CHICAGO (CBS) – A cab driver remained hospitalized hours after he was attacked and stabbed by a passenger right on the Magnificent Mile early Friday morning.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported, the driver, a 41-year-old man, was providing a ride to an unidentified woman when she became angry for unspecified reasons – and started to physically attack him, police said.
While attempting to push the woman away, she pulled out a sharp object and stabbed the driver in the head before getting out of the cab and running.
The cab driver suffered a cut to the head and was taken to Northwestern Hospital in good condition.
The driver's coworkers at Blue Ribbon Taxi say incidents like this are why they worry about their safety on the job.
"It's going crazy," said Blue Ribbon Taxi driver Chidi Ndukwu.
The driver who was stabbed remained in the hospital late Friday afternoon. The other drivers said they are glad he is doing OK, but they worry for their own safety.
"I do worry," Ndukwu said.
"These incidents start happening all the time," said Blue Ribbon Taxi driver Hardeep Gill, "so we are more worried about our drivers."
They also talked about their coworker who was attacked.
"It's a totally amazing thing, that hey, one fun loving guy – and he gets stabbed," said Gil.
Gil didn't want to share his colleagues name, but described him as kind and hardworking.
"He's a good guy," Gil said, "and he drives for us. He come from Nigeria."
We took a closer look at crimes reported in Chicago this year in cabs. We found there have been eight batteries and four assaults reported so far this year.
Last year, there were three batteries and three assaults, while in 2021, there were five batteries and no assaults.
The numbers were higher in past years. In 2020, there was one assault, but there were 10 batteries in cabs. In 2019, there were 11 assaults and 35 batteries.
Back in 2012, there were 10 assaults and 56 batteries in cabs in Chicago.
Legally speaking, an assault is the threat or force or bodily harm, while battery actually involves inflicting force or bodily harm.
These figures do not specify whether the victim was a cab driver, a passenger, or somebody else in the cab.
But the drivers told us the eight batteries and four assaults this year are only what have been reported to police - and they will keep being careful.
"We try to keep watching them in the rearview mirror," said Gil.
Police late Friday said no one was in custody, and there were no updates on the incident.
Area 3 detectives are investigating.