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Robbie Burgit of Burgit City Taxi said cab drivers do not carry a large amount of money and deposits are made after every two or three fares. ‘To be pulling a gun out for $25 or $40, you got to be kidding me,’ Burgit said.
Ed Lewis/The Times Leader
Burgit City Taxi driver Yolanda Santos said she does not feel threatened doing her job. Three Burgit City Taxi drivers have been robbed in the past three days. Owner Robbie Burgit said certain parts of Wilkes-Barre are now off-limits.
Ed Lewis/The Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE – High crime areas of the city are off limits for Burgit’s City Taxi drivers after a driver was pistol whipped and robbed Tuesday, the third such incident in as many days.
Owner Robbie Burgit said he was forced to eliminate service to certain sections of Wilkes-Barre after the latest robbery on Arch Street.
“Certain trouble spots will be avoided, especially at night,” Burgit said outside his business on South Main Street, a few hours after one of his drivers was struck in the face with a pistol. “Sorry to say, that’s the way it has to go. South Hancock, South Welles streets, the bad areas, no fares are getting picked up or dropped off there.”
City police allege Travis Matthews, 24, a 15-year-old male and a 13-year-old male got into a Burgit taxi in the area of Garfield and Sambourne streets just before 9:30 a.m., asking to be dropped off on Arch Street.
When the taxi driver reached the destination, he was struck in the face with a pistol and robbed of his cell phone.
Police were joined by Hanover Township officers who canvassed the area of Goose Island in Wilkes-Barre and Franklin Junction in Hanover Township.
Police spotted the three on Monahan Court in Hanover Township, which initiated a manhunt.
Matthews, of Hazle Avenue, Wilkes-Barre, dropped the pistol, which police recovered.
Police said Matthews and the 15-year-old were quickly captured. The 13-year-old boy was apprehended at Hazle Avenue and Blackman Street, police said.
The taxi driver was treated at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.
Police said Matthews and the two juveniles will be charged with robbery, simple assault and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery.
“They can kiss their moms and girlfriends goodbye,” Burgit said about the three. “I’m taking it all the way. I’m boiling over this; this is so ridiculous, it’s unbelievable.”
Burgit commended police for capturing the trio within an hour of the assault and robbery. He said Tuesday’s robbery was the first during the day in the last 10 years.
A Burgit Taxi driver was robbed in the area of 90 S. Hancock St. just after 11 p.m. Monday when a man approached his cab saying he was waiting for a second person.
The driver claimed a second man wearing a black ski mask with an open face entered his cab armed with a black handgun and demanded money, police said.
Police said the two men got away with an undisclosed amount of cash.
On Sunday just before 3 a.m., a Burgit Taxi driver told police he was robbed by three men in the area of 249 S. Welles St.
Burgit, who has operated his business for 32 years, said taxi drivers do not carry a large amount of cash, often depositing money after two or three fares.
Each driver conducts about 25 fares a shift, Burgit said.
“This is nonsense, this has got to stop,” Burgit said. “Taxi drivers don’t make a lot of money. When they get a few calls under their belt, they make night deposits and day deposits. But these guys are going out pulling guns and they’re going to commit such a heinous crime against these guys trying to make a living and trying to support their families.
“To be pulling a gun out for $25 or $40, you got to be kidding me,” Burgit said.
Yolanda Santos, who has been a driver for Burgit’s City Taxi for about two years, said she does not feel threatened when she provides service.
“It saddens me, it really does,” she said about the latest robbery. “I don’t know what is going on these days. I’m not scared, I’m not threatened at all. Our dispatchers are really good; they know our locations.”
Burgit said he is considering installing barriers in his vehicles that would separate passengers and the driver. He is also considering cameras in each taxi.
Taxi driver homicides
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that annual homicide rates for taxi drivers from 1998 to 2007 ranged from nine per 100,000 workers to 19. During that period, the rate for all workers was at or below 0.5 per 100,000 workers.
Taxi drivers’ homicide rates were between 21 and 33 times higher than the national average for all workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.