Police are hunting for a woman they say assaulted and robbed a taxi driver who unknowingly let her into his cab in Queens, thinking she was a regular fare.
The suspect, who sported pink hair and several face piercings, got into the 68-year-old victim’s cab around 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 4, pretending to be a customer, but instead whipped out a knife and demanded the victim’s property, according to cops. When the victim initially resisted, the suspect kicked and punched him and forcibly grabbed a wad of cash from the vehicle, police said.
With the loot in hand, the suspect jumped out of the taxi and ran west on 41st Ave., according to police.
Surveillance video from the cab captured the brightly coiffed woman wearing a black hoodie and talking on a mobile phone while riding in the vehicle.
After a similar incident in Brooklyn in March, after which a driver narrowly escaped with his life, Fernando Mateo, chairman of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, noted that attacks on taxi drivers are common.
“It’s happened numerous times with numerous drivers,” Mateo said at the time.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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