IL: Muslim Cabbies Beat & Threaten Non-Muslim Female Passengers Paying With Credit Cards

http://cbs2chicago.com/investigations/cab.drivers.credit.2.971897.html

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Cab riders held prisoner, assaulted and even ripped off - all because of how they wanted to pay their fare. There have been thousands of complaints against cab drivers in Chicago. CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini exposes the hefty price some have paid when they jumped in the backseat. Cab drivers are getting caught refusing to pick up passengers, stealing credit cards - and even committing assaults.

"He became aggressive and attacking me because I didn't have any cash with me," said Connie Magana.

That's what happened to Magana in 2007 when she was a Telemundo reporter heading to an assignment on Chicago's west side. "I didn't know if he had a gun or if he had a knife," Magana said. She says the driver locked her in the cab, and began attacking her. "Swollen and a lot of bruises on my arm," Magana said. "And this side of my neck." The cab driver, Tawiah Mansfield, was convicted last year of battery. "I was afraid that he could take my life over $23," Magana said.

CBS 2 Investigators obtained city records detailing nearly 3,000 complaints against cab drivers since 2005. That's when it became mandatory for most drivers to take credit cards.

In 2008 alone, the number of complaints reached an all time high of 908. Commissioner Norma Reyes with the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection regulates and disciplines cab drivers.

When asked if cab drivers should be refusing to take credit cards, Norma Reyes said, "They should absolutely not be refusing." Reyes said the spike in complaints about credit cards is "absolutely disturbing to hear and not acceptable." Complaints vary from just refusing to take a card to verbal abuse to actual threatening behavior.

One complaint said, "I was scared for my life."

Another said the driver "threatened to hold her hostage." Still others say they were locked in cabs, and forced to go to ATM machines.

"The driver grew irate and then locked us all in the cab," said Kristi Harshbarger. That happened last year, says Harshbarger, in one cab.

The year before, she says, another driver stole her credit card number.

"There was a $300 cab fare charge, a $250 cab fare charge and I believe another $200 cab fare charge," Harshbarger said. Harshbarger's bank records show that over three days, more than $961 was charged on her credit card for cab rides – and more was spent at restaurants she says she's never been to.

"I was very upset at first," Harshbarger said. "I was just trying to pay for a $12 fare."

She's not alone.

Besides stolen numbers, passengers have complained about being charged more than once, and drivers changing the amount owed on credit card slips. Harshbarger says that she only pays cash now when taking cabs. "We do have some things that are on the table to address this issue," Reyes said. "I will never try to pay with a credit card or debit card ever again," Magana said. "I got that afraid."

City officials say they are working on a way to crackdown on this problem.