21-Year-Old Passenger Accuses Cab Driver Of Rape

(Qbans' flickr).

A 21-year-old woman returning home to Harlem early Monday morning after drinking in Midtown says she got more than a ride from her cabbie. She says he pulled over near West 138th Street and Riverside Drive, climbed into the backseat with her and raped her. According to the Post's sources, when the woman begged him to stop he "simply snarled 'Come on, baby.'"

The incident allegedly occurred around 3:15 a.m. and the victim admits that she had blacked out inside the cab. The Post reports that after he raped her the driver then took the woman to her building, dropped her off and drove off. She later went to St. Luke's and was released after being treated. When contacted the NYPD told us they currently had no further information to add. When asked to comment on the story, the TLC declined without further information.

Taxi drivers have been accused of rape before. In 2004, the Manhattan DA chose not to press charges against a driver who had sex with a passenger after it came out it may have been consensual. In 2008, a 38-year-old woman says she was assualted by a cabbie going from the LES to Brooklyn and just this past May a female passenger in Williamsburg claimed she was raped by her driver while heading back to Manhattan.

In the meantime, if you have been drinking and are taking a cab home alone a good tip is to snap a picture of the driver's license and medallion number with your phone's camera right as you are getting in. Or, if you are putting an inebriated friend in a cab alone just quickly text them the cab's medallion number. It takes two seconds and you never know when it might come in handy.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in News on December 7, 2011 12:19 PM

Comments [rss]

fosiacat

but seriously, rape isn't cool.

jisnotused

'Come on, baby.'

Emmily_Litella

'let the good times roll'.

hope the creep is found and punished.

HappilyBookish

Seriously, dudes: don't rape women.

fosiacat

seriously, chicks, stop playing hard to get all the time.

Xwendekar

I love how the advice at the end wasn't for preventing this from happening, just to make sure you have a chance of catching the guy after it does.
Seriously, Ladies, watch your booze and keep your wits about you. I wish this was a world where you could pass out in a cab or wherever without danger of being violated, but it's not.

AlexTheOriginalPartyDog

Thank you.

rcltrh

Something sounds fishy about this story. Since when can you ever understand what a cab driver says, let alone hearing him speak it in English.

Freddi BuBu

No pic of the "victim"?

swampyankeesmom

is there an iphone app for this?

"Tim Osman"

Ain't alcohol great?

ktinnyc

I love water too but I don't blame it when someone drowns in it.

"Tim Osman"

Alcohol is an extremely dangerous and addictive toxic drug

sauerkrautcity

if you have an issue getting blackout drunk then maybe you shouldn't be drinking

HappilyBookish

Way to blame the victim.

sauerkrautcity

or I was just commenting on his comment about alcohol. yeah no big deal

HappilyBookish

Ah, got it. There's a lot of pointing fingers at victims when something happens when they are drunk. Which bothers me because drinking itself is no crime.

AlexTheOriginalPartyDog

Being publicly drunk is. i'm not saying that this woman was, just commenting directly on your above post. Technically, you can't drink to the point of being wasted, legally.

"Tim Osman"

Drinking is not a crime, but being severely drunk in public is a crime. I do not like to blame a victim either. However if you drink you are supposed know when to stop, if you get too drunk you owe some responsibility, not for a crime that someone else commits against you but for putting yourself at risk. There's a reason they say "drink responsibly", it's not only about drinking and driving,..