Taxi Co. Accused by Competitor of Illegal Practices

A Gardena-based taxi company has been accused by two Southeast cities and a competitor of staffing its fleet with some unlicensed drivers, operating without required permits and using unethical means to win a share of the local yellow cab business.

In February, the AM / PM Yellow Cab Co. was denied a permit by the city of Downey, and in March, a similar permit request was rejected by the city of Bell.

“They were illegally picking up passengers when they knew they shouldn’t, that’s why we turned them down,” Bell Mayor Jay Price said.

A report by the Bell-Cudahy Police Department also stated that of 16 drivers insured by AM / PM, four did not have any drivers license, one had a suspended license and another had a warrant calling for his arrest on a traffic violation. A similar investigation by the Downey Police Department criticized AM / PM for its “irresponsible attitude of management in permitting their taxis to continue to do business in the city after they had been told . . . that this was prohibited.”

“We did operate for a while pending our license application,” said John Vallone, president of American Transportation Enterprises, which formed AM / PM about two years ago. “We were unaware that we could not operate. Admittedly we have made some mistakes. We are a new company.”

But AM / PM officials strongly denied that any of their drivers lacked a proper license or had outstanding arrest warrants against them.

Siroos Moatazedi, general manager of American Transportation, also characterized both the Downey and Bell-Cudahy police reports as “a mistake.”

AM / PM operates in good standing in Commerce, Bell Gardens, Norwalk, Bellflower, Cerritos, Lakewood and Buena Park, company officials said. The firm also has applications pending in Pico Rivera and Whittier.

Moatazedi charged that the criticisms raised in Downey and Bell were prompted by the operators of Day and Night Yellow Cab Co., a competitor who is attempting to muscle AM / PM out of business.

Day and Night, along with Yellow Cab of Northern Orange County, is seeking an injunction to block AM / PM from using the name Yellow Cab and keep it from operating without a license in cities that they already serve. A hearing is set for May 5 at the Norwalk branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“I am very familiar with this way of working to get rid of small companies like us,” Moatazedi said. “One way they get you out of business is to bombard you with lawsuits and ruin your reputation before you really get started. They see us as a threat.”

But Duke Perrin, owner of Day and Night, said he not out to destroy AM / PM.

“I can live with competition,” Perrin said. “What I object to is the way these guys operate. We’ve been here for 40 years. Everyone knows our name. Now these guys come along, call themselves Yellow Cab, and everyone is confused.”

Perrin also charges that AM / PM has been scanning Day and Night’s calls to find out where drivers are being sent to pick up customers. He said that several of his drivers have complained that AM / PM cabs have stolen their fares.

Moatazedi denied attempting to copy Day and Night’s name. And he said his firm has never scanned Day and Night’s calls.

The Bell-Cudahy police report, however, appears to support Perrin’s charge. The report states that officers conducted part of their investigation on Mar. 16 at about 11:20 p.m.: “At 23:20 hours the Bell Police Department dispatcher placed a call to the Day and Night Cab Co. requesting a cab at Los Playas restaurant . . . At 23:45 hours, a Day and Night Cab arrived and directly behind him was a Yellow Cab No. 504 (AM / PM),” the report said.

“I can’t say they were monitoring calls,” Bell Sgt. Mike Trevis said in a recent interview, “but Day and Night was summoned to a location in Bell and directly behind him was AM / PM. Whether they were monitoring calls or it was coincidental, I don’t know. But they were there.”

Perrin further complains that when customers call the telephone information operator and ask for Yellow Cab in Bell, they get a number that rings at AM / PM.

Alphabetical Listing

That number is also listed as “Yella Cab” in the telephone directory, according to Larry Cox, a spokesman for General Telephone.

“Unless you specify AM / PM Yellow Cab or Day and Night, you will get AM / PM because numbers are listed alphabetically,” Cox explained. “If you are listed as Yella instead of Yellow, you’re number will come up first. If I were in the cab business I would come up with a name that is higher alphabetically than my competitors, too.”

At a recent council meeting, AM / PM representatives denied the claim and challenged Bell officials to call information and see for themselves.

Bell-Cudahy Police Chief William East said he immediately went into another room, dialed the information operator--and got the number for AM / PM.

In addition to their 40 cabs, American Transportation also operates five shuttle buses that serve Los Angeles International Airport.

Earlier this year, the firm was sued by Wilmington Cab Co., which operates Supershuttle of Los Angeles, the largest shuttle bus operator at LAX. Steve Kirby, attorney for Wilmington Cab--as well as Day and Night and Yellow Cab of Northern Orange County--said the suit charges that American Transportation copied Supershuttle’s blue and gold color scheme, and demands that the firm repaint their vans.

Larry Slagle, owner of the Orange County firm and another that operates in Whittier, also charges that AM / PM is already operating in that city without a permit. Moatazedi flatly denied the accusation.

“This is not just a case of one competitor throwing mud at another,” said Kirby, the attorney for Day and Night. “This is a case of exposing people who have warrants out for their arrests, who have suspended drivers licenses . . . If you look at Bell and Downey, at the very least the public safety is in question when you have a company that has drivers who have the kind of driving records these people have.”