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Woman Forced to Hand Over iPod for Cab Fare

by Evan Shamoon on January 22, 2009 at 09:40 AM

In the grand scheme of things, having your iPod stolen is not cool. Having your iPod stolen by your cab driver, however, is somehow much, much worse.

The New York and New Jersey Port Authority is investigating a California woman's claim that she was forced to hand her iPod over as payment to her cabbie for her ride.

The 20 year-old Sacramento woman, who was clearly in over her head going to the city alone, said her credit card was declined during her ride from the airport in early December (which, for those planning trips to NYC, is a flat rate of $45). The driver called 911, and she claims that that Port Authority police ordered her to give the driver some compensation ... so she handed over the iPod.

Three small letters were apparently missing from the young woman's vocabulary: A, T, and M. [From: FoxNews]

Tags: cab, newyork, top

Comments

RideTheSnakeJan 22nd 2009 12:29PM

Neutral

Yeah, there's no one to side with on this one. The whole thing is shenanigans.

1. I'm sure she is not the 1st customer to have a declined CC or failed to realize they didn't have the cash... the cab company and port/transit authorities MUST have some kind of policy for this situation outside of 'call 911 and have a wannabe beat cop make you give up person belongings'.

2. Hey, not just the lady that doesn't understand 'ATM'... the cops and the cabbie too. The cabbie is DRIVING... he could have just kept on driving to the nearest bank or ATM. But then again, I guess then that could be construed as 'kidnapping'. Although, to be quite honest, the article doesn't actually state if that idea was suggested, so it could have been and maybe the woman refused.

3. I would have told the cop to put me in handcuffs and take me in. I would have made sure to have gotten their name and all pertinent info and I would have marched right into jail on my own and explained to everyone who had an ear that some punk-ass wannabe cop tried to pretend he was a judge of the court. If her mistake was a misdeamonor that was a ticketable offense, then he should have just written her the ticket and moved on. That's about the extent of any fine-issuing a cop can give. He can 'suggest' all day long, but at the end of the day, only a judge/court can force you to give up personal property

So really... I don't know if this says more about the stupidity of the cop, cabbie or customer. They all deserved to be slapped with a taco.

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mikeJan 22nd 2009 1:59PM

Neutral

we call that THEFT UNDER COLOR OF AUTHORITY when the police man is an accomplince to GRAND THEFT because one of the few N,Y cabbies that didn't have a gun had to sumon one

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R. PlumleyJan 22nd 2009 3:00PM

Neutral

Once a long time ago I gave a lady a ride to her destination and she refused to pay me. I drove her back to my cab stand,took her purser, and discuss threw her purse as far as possible. She retrieved her purse and walked away. Revenge was sweet although I was not paid for the fare! So be it!