Company Offers $2,000 Reward in String of Cabdriver Robberies

A cab company is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest in the robberies of three Yellow Cab drivers.

The robberies of drivers for Ventura-based Taxi Leasing Inc. have occurred in the last five weeks, Ventura Police Det. Ralph Martinez said.

On Dec. 6, a driver picked up a fare at a Holiday Inn who asked to be dropped off in the Montalvo area. Before leaving the car, the robber pulled out a handgun and demanded money, Martinez said.

The second robbery, Dec. 26, involved a man and a woman--the latter using the name Jessica--who called for a ride from the Leewood Hotel in Ventura to Woodpecker Avenue in Montalvo. Again, the male pulled a handgun and demanded money. The female ran away.

Another driver was robbed Jan. 5, but Martinez said police are uncertain if it is connected because the description of the robber differs from the earlier holdups.

The robber used the name Rick and asked to be taken from the Vons shopping center on Thompson Boulevard to the 500 block of Cedar Street. But he pulled a gun a block before his stop and robbed the driver, Martinez said.

In the first two robberies, the drivers described the gunman as a light-complexioned Latino in his early 20s, about 210 pounds, 6 feet, with a buzzed haircut and bushy eyebrows. The suspect in the third holdup was described as a Latino, about 5 feet, 10 inches, 165 pounds with a neatly trimmed dark mustache and a buzzed haircut.

In addition to the cab company’s reward, the Paratransit Assn. of California is offering $5,000 for information leading to an arrest, said officials from Taxi Leasing Inc.

People with information about the robberies should call Martinez at 339-4472.