NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A cab driver accused of stabbing a passenger last month in the Bronx turned himself into police Monday morning, saying he never stabbed anyone and wants to clear him name.
Livery driver Sandy de Jesus Rodriguez said although he was seen on surveillance video fighting with another man on Sunday, Oct. 13, he was actually the victim of the crime and was attempting to defend himself.
The driver said his passenger was actually a woman who did not pay for her fare and took off towards a building on Webster Avenue in the Bronx. When he pursued her for the fare, he was confronted by the man he is seen fighting with on video tape.
In the footage, Rodriguez can be seen with a pocket knife and held it up several times.
“We know that the video tape does not look good for him,” said New York City’s Federation of Taxi Drivers founder Fernando Mateo. “We understand that he has an object in his hand and he's waving it, but at no moment, did he stab the person who robbed him.”
The driver says the couple he fought will had set him up in the past and stolen from him before. In the Oct. 13 incident, he said not only did they attempt to beat the $10 fare, but they also stole an additional $190 from the front seat of his car.
“He worked 12 hours to earn $190 and for someone to just take it, he just couldn't accept that,” said Mateo.
Rodriguez maintains that he did not stab anyone and did not know that he was wanted by police until the company he drivers for told him detectives had come in looking for him.
The driver is asking detectives and the district attorney to seek medical records of the alleged victim to show there was no stabbing. He has been charged with menicing, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.