Man Charged With Carjacking Cabbie, Leading Police On Slow-Speed Chase
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Felony charges were filed Tuesday against a man who allegedly carjacked a Toyota Prius taxi last Friday near LAX and led police on a mostly slow-speed chase through South Los Angeles.
Derrick Bogar, 36, is also charged with robbing three other cab drivers -- two of whom were allegedly carjacked -- at or near Los Angeles International Airport last week.
Bogar pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree robbery of a transit operator, three counts of carjacking, two counts of administering a drug and one count each of kidnapping to commit another crime, second-degree robbery and fleeing a pursuing peace officer's motor vehicle while driving recklessly.
Prosecutors say Bogar carjacked and robbed a cabbie who was parked at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel, 9620 Airport Blvd., at about 1:30 p.m. Friday, then forced him to smoke a drug-laced cigarette before the driver escaped.
As the suspect wound through South Los Angeles, Inglewood, Hawthorne and unincorporated county areas in the lime-green Prius, he slowed at times and appeared to hand money to at least two bystanders.
Several onlookers cheered and captured images of the Bell Cab and the suspect on their cell phones.
Bogar was arrested about 3:25 p.m. after a police SUV executed a PIT maneuver that sent the Prius into a spin before it was pinned by three other police SUVs.
A criminal complaint charges Bogar with carjacking two cabs parked at LAX last Tuesday and Wednesday, robbing the drivers and administering a drug to one of them.
He also is accused of robbing a cab driver about 1 a.m. last Tuesday at a hotel near LAX, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Bogar was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon on three counts each of carjacking and first-degree robbery of a transit operator, two counts of administering a drug and one count each of kidnapping to commit another crime, second-degree robbery and fleeing a pursuing peace officer's motor vehicle while driving recklessly.
Bogar, whose bail was set at $1.25 million, is scheduled to return to court on April 28.
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