Driver Leaps From Cab; Suspect Is Later Captured

A quick-thinking cabdriver escaped from a robber by leaping from his taxi into the back of a passing pickup truck Monday before Alhambra police shot and arrested the suspect after a chase through Los Angeles’ Eastside.

Bruce B. Moore, 34, of Alhambra was reported in critical condition at County-USC Medical Center after being wounded during a foot pursuit after the stolen cab crashed into a parked car, investigators said.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, who are investigating the incident for the Alhambra Police Department, said an officer who chased the taxi on the San Bernardino and Long Beach freeways fired four shots when he believed that the suspect was reaching for a gun. No weapon was found.

The incident began shortly after midnight when Yellow Cab driver Joseph Oni was dispatched to pick up a fare in the 500 block of North Electric Avenue, deputies said.

The passenger pressed a sharp object into Oni’s back and told him to drive to Long Beach or he would shoot, said Deputy Patrick Hauser.

But at Atlantic Boulevard and Main Street, Oni, 41, of Los Angeles, threw the taxi into park and jumped from it into the passing truck, Hauser said.

The suspect sped off in the cab as the taxi driver called police. Patrolling deputies saw the taxi a few minutes later on Atlantic, he said.

The shooting occurred after the stolen taxi crashed on Humpreys Avenue and the suspect ran down an alley. Alhambra Police Officer George Flannagan fired a shot that missed before shooting the suspect in the lower back and leg, officials said.