A 26-year-old Unicity driver is still in hospital after he was attacked at his open window in Winnipeg in the early hours of Saturday 3 October. The company says the man who flagged him down used a hammer.
What police have confirmed
Winnipeg Police say a passerby found the driver unconscious at Nairn Avenue and Watt Street. Officers arrived at 2.20am, gave emergency treatment, and an ambulance took him to hospital in an unstable condition with upper-body injuries.
Police believe he had been flagged down and assaulted around Sutherland Avenue and Higgins Avenue. He then drove north on Higgins, parked, and switched on the cab’s emergency lights. A passerby called 911. The major crimes unit is investigating. Police have not named a weapon or a suspect.
What the company says
Unicity general manager Abhishek Tara told the Winnipeg Free Press the driver was still in hospital on Wednesday and had lost a lot of blood. He has no family in Canada.
Tara said the driver was flagged down and, from the driver’s window, asked how the customer meant to pay. He said the customer took offence and, as Tara understands it, attacked him with a hammer. The blows continued as the driver tried to wind the window up. He got the cab moving before he was hit again.
Tara also said a driver was punched at Winnipeg airport recently, and that two cabs waiting at Kildonan Place were sprayed with an unknown substance. Unicity cabs have a shield, cameras and an emergency button that sets off an outside strobe. He wants taxi supervisors to be able to reach a patrol unit directly, rather than only through 911.
The appeal
Anyone with information or video is asked to call the major crimes unit on 204-986-6219, or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 204-786-8477.