NEW YORK – A cab driver in New York City was caught on camera dragging an elderly woman out of his car this week.
A man who just happened to be walking by Wednesday afternoon pulled out his phone and started recording as the 78-year-old woman was forcefully pulled from the car by the driver.
As soon as he approaches, the woman is heard screaming, “Call the police!”
The video shows the woman hitting the driver with her cane.
Ezra Halawani, 35, is then seen confronting the man. He manages to get him to turn over the woman’s phone.
But shortly after that, the cab driver gets back in the car and takes off, hitting Halawani in the process, police said.
“Are you OK?” Halawani asked the victim.
“No I’m not!” she responded. “I’m a 78-year-old lady and he pulled me out of the cab! He took my money! He took my phone!”
“No, I have your phone. I took your phone back,” Halawani said.
The New York Taxi and Limousine Commission is working with the New York Police Department in the investigation.
“I just couldn’t believe that someone could do something like that to -- forget just an old woman -- just any person in general,” Halawani said.
The state Federation of Taxi Drivers released a statement, saying the driver’s actions were totally unjustified.