USA Police: Sikh Cab Driver Beaten In Robbery Not A Hate Crime

[spnadmin]

by Will Frampton
SACRAMENTO, CA - An overnight attack on a cab driver in the Arden area is under investigation by police, but they say the attack was not a hate crime.

The cab driver, who is a member of the Sikh community, told police one of his late-night passengers beat him up and robbed him before forcing him out of the cab. He called police just after midnight.

The attack happened along Connie Drive at Joan Way and was initially investigated as a possible hate crime, according to a police officer on the scene. In 2010, a Sikh American cab driver was beaten in a hate crime in Sacramento, and police wanted to make sure this wasn't a similar attack.

In the overnight attack, the cab driver was robbed at gunpoint, and may have been pistol-whipped, then forced to drive around before the gunman told him to get out of the cab, according to police Sgt. Lewis Pease.

Police say the suspect is still on the loose.

http://www.news10.net/news/article/145641/29/UPDATE-Sikh-cab-driver-beaten-in-robbery

 

[spnadmin]

more background

Cab Driver Robbed And Carjacked At Gunpoint In Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Sacramento Police are on the hunt for a man who apparently robbed a cab driver, hit him with a gun, and took off with his car.

Police say the cab driver picked up his fare just before midnight at a shopping center near San Juan Avenue and Northgate Boulevard.

As they started driving, the suspect, described as a man in his 20’s, pulled out a gun. He told the driver to head toward Howe Avenue and then took the driver’s money. The suspect then ordered the driver to stop at Howe and Cottage where he forced him out at gunpoint and drove off in the cab.


Officers found the cab minutes later abandoned a few blocks north.

The driver of the cab is Sikh, and although this is not the first time a Sikh cab driver has been a victim of crime, police do not believe this incident was race-related.

“No indication of race motivation. Nothing stated racially,” said Sacramento Police Sgt. Norm Leong.

The driver was not hurt.

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2011...bbed-and-carjacked-at-gunpoint-in-sacramento/

 

[Annie]

I'm glad he was not seriously hurt. Maybe they should start putting cameras in taxis, the same way they put in buses.