Passenger beats cabbie unconscious
SINGAPORE - Police have arrested a 30-year-old Korean man, who lost his temper and beat up a taxi driver until he was unconscious, yesterday morning.
The man, who was upset by a broken door handle, had also yelled at the driver for driving a "lousy car".
The 48-year-old driver was taken to the hospital after his encounter with the irrate customer outside a hotel in Pasir Panjang.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, the injured driver said that he had picked up the passenger after receiving a telephone booking.
He said that the passenger, who spoke fluent English, shouted at him to drive to the airport, and threw his luggages into the car boot.
Although the driver tried to coax him, the angry passenger refused to calm down, even breaking a door handle by forcefully pulling open the door.
When this happened, the driver decided to call the police as the man's behaviour seemed unstable.
When the man saw the driver step out of the taxi, he demanded to know why he was not taking him to the airport. Just then, the fired-up man also discovered the taxi driver trying to snap a photograph of him.
It was then that the angered man charged at the taxi driver, knocked off his spectacles and punched him repeatedly on his head and back.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the taxi driver blacked out but soon regained consciousness.
When the passenger saw the taxi driver standing up, he ran up towards him and started to attack him again until he begged for the man to stop.
The police arrived just as the man was trying to retrieve his bags from the car boot.
Comfort Delgro spokesperson told Shin Min Daily News that the taxi driver did not provoke the passenger. The company would help the driver with medical bills and work with the police for investigations.
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