The alleged kidnapping of a Norwood woman last weekend by a cab driver who said she refused to pay highlighted a larger problem taxi drivers experience on a near daily basis, cabbies said.
“It happens a lot on Friday and Saturday nights because of the drinking and a lot of times the drivers will drive them to the police station,” said Dave Loper, general manager of Top Cab.
Top Cab driver Osei Kwame was charged for not allowing a woman out of his cab after her male friend got out in Quincy without paying. Police later stopped Kwame on Interstate 93.
Kwame, said the pair in the cab refused to pay their fare after he picked them up at a Boston club and drove them to Quincy.
Drivers interviewed yesterday said they’ve each been stiffed multiple times.
Sergey Shafranskiy, a driver for five years, recalled how an intoxicated woman told him she wouldn’t pay him because he was rude and walked into her apartment building.
When police arrived she was gone and he didn’t get his fare, he said.
“I’m not only mad I lost the money, but I also lost my time with my kids,” said Shafranskiy, who drives a cab as a second job to help support his family.
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The Hackney Division of the Boston Police Department oversees the city’s licensed cabs.
A police spokesman said that Hackney protocol rules and regulations spell out how drivers can handle fare evaders.
“Drivers certainly are not encouraged to settle disputes on their own,” said Officer James Kenneally. “They are encouraged to contact or call 911.”
