Cab Driver Shot In East Harlem Following Fare Dispute With Passenger
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A fight over a cab fare ended in gun fire, with the taxi driver shot, in East Harlem Wednesday.
As CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported, police said the armed passenger was on the run late in the day.
The shooting happened at 9:05 a.m. at First Avenue and East 122nd Street in front of the Robert F. Wagner Houses public housing development in East Harlem, CBS2's Magdalena Doris reported.
Afterward, police carefully examined every inch of the green taxi cab where driver Segundo Rodriguez, 56, was shot in the hand by the passenger who refused to pay.
"He's just doing his job," said Sabrina of Harlem.
One woman who was too afraid to go on camera said she witnessed the shooting. She said she saw the gunman running through her courtyard of the housing development at a time when families were out getting ready to start their day.
"You just try not to be out late," Sabrina said. "You try, you know, to modify your life for these events."
After the shooting, police quickly descended on the public housing building at 2390 First Ave., searching for the armed suspect last seen running inside.
"The police come running," a woman said.
But on Wednesday afternoon, detectives left the scene without making an arrest.
Alisha Shirley, a lifetime resident of the Wagner Houses, said violence is all too familiar in her neighborhood – even in broad daylight.
"Stuff happens like this the middle of the night, early in the day, in the afternoon – it happens all day," Shirley said.
The shooting happened near a school complex. The school was not placed on lockdown.
The cab driver was treated at Harlem Hospital Center. Late Wednesday, police were still searching for the suspect and may be aided by surveillance video form an onboard camera.