By Jorge Valencia
The Roanoke Times
ROANOKE, Va. — A taxi driver smashed his cab against the wall of a downtown Roanoke fire station Monday night as his passenger reportedly tried to rob him. Firefighters from the station removed the men from the vehicle and took them to a hospital.
Their conditions were unknown.
After the driver had picked up his passenger at Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital, the passenger assaulted him and tried to rob him, said Stephanie Dobyns, operations manager for Yellow Cab Co. It was unclear whether a weapon was used.
“The driver says he intentionally drove into Fire Station 1 with the suspect in the vehicle,” said Aisha Johnson, a Roanoke Police Department spokeswoman.
The driver hit a double door and part of a wall at the fire station at Elm Avenue and Franklin Road Southwest about 8:10 p.m., authorities said.
No one in the station was injured.
John Small Jr., who lives in a nearby apartment, said he heard tires squealing, a crash and then someone shouting.
“All I heard was, ‘Call the police. Do not let the guy in my cab out. He’s trying to kill me,’” Small said.
As he looked at what appeared to be only cosmetic damage, Fire-EMS Deputy Chief Ralph Tartaglia said, “In my 35 years serving the department, I have never seen anything like this.” The men’s identities weren’t released.
Copyright 2009 The Roanoke Times
All Rights Reserved