Cab Driver Talks About Giving Ride To Murder Suspect
DENVER (CBS4) - The cab driver who gave a ride to the suspect in a day-long crime spree last month says he didn't find anything suspicious in the man's behavior during their interaction.
CBS4's Valerie Castro interviewed Dennis Forst on Tuesday, and although Forst didn't want his face to appear on camera he was willing to talk at length about his frightening experience on April 14. William Lornes is the man who was arrested on that day during a ride in Forst's taxi. Denver prosecutors say the day before the arrest Lornes was responsible for both the murder of a 73-year-old man man and a kidnapping of a woman at the Cherry Creek Mall. (Full Story)
Forst told Castro he feels lucky he didn't become a third victim.
"The kidnapping and the killing ... I could have been another killing, I don't know," Forst said.
Forst came to pick up Lornes that night at a bed and breakfast in Morrison. Lornes had showed up there on foot late in the evening and the employee inside wouldn't let him in. Through an intercom she agreed to call a cab for Lornes.
"He seemed cool, calm, like he had nothing to worry about," said Forst.
Police pulled over Forst's cab at C-470 and Alameda, only a few minutes after a deputy spotted Lornes in the vehicle.
"I'm just thankful that the Lord had the sheriff's (deputies) stop me," Forst said. "I'm just thankful for the guardian angels that are around me."
Officers searched the taxi and found a key piece of evidence in their case against Lornes.
"(The police officer) comes back a little bit later and says 'Are we going to find your prints on the gun we found in your car?' I said 'Gun? you won't find my prints on it.'"
Lornes is charged with killing Gerald Schwartzman the day before and stuffing his body in a dumpster. He also faces charges in the Cherry Creek Mall kidnapping incident that took place a few hours later. A security guard at the mall says Lornes confronted her in the parking lot and at gunpoint told to get into her trunk. After the car drove a few blocks away the woman was able to pop the trunk open and escape.
