NYC cabbie mistakenly beaten by good Samaritans

[February 03, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Police said a cab driver who tried to take a purse from a woman fare beater was beaten by a group of good Samaritans who thought they were seeing a robbery. Police said it happened Saturday morning near the Staten Island Ferry Terminal when four woman, who had been club-going, got into a fight with the cab driver over the fare.

Police say the women left the taxi without paying and the cab driver gave chase, grabbing one of the women's purses.

That's when a group of men in a passing car thought they were witnessing a mugging and jumped on the cab driver, beating him and then fleeing the seen.

The cab driver was treated for cuts on his face.

The women were later picked up by police as they exited the Staten Island Ferry and issued summonses for fare beating.

[Associated Press]

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