Took $14 in Fares : Knife-Wielding Robber Cornered by Cabbies

Three San Diego cabdrivers fought with a knife-wielding man who stole $14 from one of them Friday in East San Diego, catching the suspected robber and holding him until police arrived.

Hearing the radioed calls for help at 7 a.m. from fellow Yellow Cab Co. driver Harry Hendrickson, drivers Paul Arnold and Larry Gomez sped to his aid, helping to chase and corner the suspected robber, police said.

“Usually we have individual drivers fight back against robbers, but we tell them not to resist,” said Harry Petrou, Yellow Cab operations manager. “This (type of robbery) happens too often.”

Luis Angel de Jesus of East San Diego was taken into custody and booked at County Jail on suspicion of armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and displaying a weapon in a threatening manner, police said.

Hendrickson, 36, who drives a cab to supplement the income he earns as a free-lance photographer, said the incident began when he picked up a fare at a restaurant in the 4900 block of University Avenue. After he had driven a short distance, the passenger asked him to pull into an alley adjacent to Estrella Avenue. When the cab stopped, the man put a knife to Hendrickson’s throat and demanded money.

“I had just come to work and I only had $14. . . . I thought it was going to be a pretty good morning,” Hendrickson said.

Even though he had never been robbed before, Hendrickson said he wasn’t scared until the robber asked him for his keys.

“By taking away my keys he was taking away my sole means of communication (the car radio). . . . that way he really could have hurt me and I wouldn’t have been able to call for anybody,” Hendrickson said.

Before the robber left, Hendrickson pleaded with him not to take the keys. The man threw them about 10 yards down the alley and started to walk away.

“I grabbed the keys and got in the car, locked the doors, closed the windows and called for help,” Hendrickson said.

Looking out his car window, Hendrickson saw the robber waving the knife, signaling for him to drive away. Just then, Arnold and Gomez arrived.

“When he saw the other cabs, he took off into the alley,” Hendrickson said.

The three cabbies ran after the robber, finally cornering him.

“He pulled the knife on my friends,” Hendrickson said. But the three managed to force the knife out of the man’s hand and hold him until police arrived.

Still shaken after the robbery, Hendrickson said being robbed is an occupational hazard for all cab drivers. Police say at least one cabdriver in San Diego is held up every day.

“The hair on the back of my neck stands on end whenever people start to tell me to pull into this alley or that. . . . that’s what happened this time,” Hendrickson said.

But a few hours after being held up, he shook off the effects of the morning and got back in his cab.

“I’ve got to go out and make some money today,” he said. With that, he drove off to pick up more fares.