Police are looking for a yellow cab driver who followed his 25 year-old female passenger into her apartment and raped her on Sunday morning. The woman hailed a cab at 71st Street and Broadway, around 2:30AM after leaving pub P.D. O'Hurley's, and went downtown to her home on John Street. After paying, the cabbie apparently followed her into her apartment. The newspapers report the woman awoke to finding a man raping her, but she fell back into unconsciousness. The police describe the attacker as being an Indian in his 30s, 5'10" to 5'11" and 170 pounds. After this incident, as well as one last month of a cab driver sodomizing his passenger after taking her home to Queens, women are even more concerned about their safety when taking cabs home alone.
Police are looking at surveillance tape, hoping to catch the taxi's medallion number. Gothamist has gotten into the habit of memorizing medallion numbers of cabs we take, because we worry that we have left our cell phone or bag behind. It might be a good rule of thumb to write the medallion number down, or program it into your cellphone, because you never know.
The NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, where you can file for items lost in a cab as well as complaints against cab drivers.
