By Kirstin MaguireThe Daily Northwestern
Three armed robberies of taxicabs occurred in Evanston during the last week, said Deputy Chief Joseph Bellino of the Evanston Police Department.
Two of the incidents involved Norshore Cab Association drivers, and the other involved 303 Taxi. The EPD is actively investigating all three incidents, Bellino said.
“I would say (the robberies) are significantly the same and there’s a good possibility it’s the same person, but we are still investigating all three incidents,” Bellino said.
The first robbery occurred Thursday around 12:30 a.m., Bellino said. A Norshore cab driver was dispatched to the 1900 block of Wesley Avenue. The driver told police when he saw a man standing on the street, he lowered the front passenger’s window and asked the man if he had called for a cab, Bellino said.
The man said he had called Norshore and then leaned into the open window and displayed a small, black handgun, Bellino said. The man demanded the driver’s money, at which point the driver surrendered his wallet containing $90, according to Bellino. The robber then fled.
At about 3 a.m. Sunday, a man held up a 303 Taxi driver on the 1900 block of Jackson Avenue, about one block away from the scene of the Thursday robbery, Bellino said. When the driver picked up a man, the passenger got into the backseat of the cab and pulled out a handgun, Bellino said. The robber then told the driver to hand over his money. The driver gave up $25 and his cell phone.
Another armed robbery occurred only an hour later about a half a mile north of the Jackson Avenue incident, on the 2300 block of Brown Avenue. Norshore dispatched a driver who picked up a male and female. As the woman opened the driver’s door, the man put a knife to the driver’s throat and demanded that he turn over his money, Bellino said. Then the two suspects ran away.
The past few months have seen a rise in armed robberies targeted at cab drivers, said Walter Wolff, the president of Norshore.
“It’s important for our cab drivers to be safe along with other cab companies in our town,” Wolff said. “They have a risk at times but the Evanston Police Department has been very cooperative and have helped us find these people. Hopefully, we’ll find this person too.”
Multiple calls to 303 Taxi were not returned Monday.
Norshore cab driver Abdul Khalid said he wanted more protection provided by their companies and the police.
“I’m not feeling good about this,” Khalid said. “This is a service for the public, but we’re not given respect from other departments, like the police and our companies.”
Khalid said companies should make sure cab orders are correct and provide insurance to drivers in case they are robbed.
“I don’t want to be involved in any of these happenings,” he said. “My life is more valuable than money.”
Reach Kirstin Maguire at [email protected].
