Group Calls For Action After 2 Livery Cab Drivers Killed In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- For the second time in a week, a livery cab driver has been fatally shot in the Bronx and a drivers' rights group believes the two cases may be connected.
The murders had several factors in common, according to New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers spokesman Fernando Mateo.
Calls For Action After 2 Livery Cab Drivers Killed In One Week In The Bronx
"Both assaulted, they were murdered, shot in the head, their cars were stolen," Mateo said.
In both cases, the drivers' cars were found in separate locations from the bodies, 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon reported.
Maoudo Kane, 49, was found shot once in the head in Co-Op City last Tuesday morning. Law enforcement sources said Kane's cab was the suspected getaway car in a pair of armed robberies in Yonkers before it was abandoned near Yankee Stadium, Rincon reported.
On Monday night, the body of a livery cab driver was found in Hunts Point, while his vehicle was found in Soundview.
In a news conference Tuesday, Mateo said four male suspects were seen fleeing the scene in another livery cab near where the vehicle was found in Soundview, Rincon reported.
Mateo urged that cab driver to come forward, along with any witnesses.
The NYPD is not connecting the two cases at this point.
Mateo said there has been an uptick in violence against livery cab drivers and has requested a meeting with Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to discuss the situation.
"We have not seen this kind of assault on our industry in the last decade, what is going on now? We need to turn the clock and we need to start doing what we were doing back then," Mateo said. "It's two in a week, something's gotta be a done."
He also urged livery cab drivers to remain vigilant and to not pick up illegal street hails.
Mateo said he believes the reduction in stop-and-frisk searches is partly to blame.
"We need to find a method, without racially profiling anyone, to stop these guys from going out there and killing our drivers," Mateo said.
He would like to see more preventive measures taken, such as setting up roadblocks where police could check on livery cabs.
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