New York City taxi drivers sounded the alarm Thursday over a rash of robberies allegedly perpetrated by a crew of youths dating back to the start of 2025.
According to Fernando Mateo of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, a dangerous band of about three people aged between 17 and 19, whom he described as transgender, have been targeting taxi drivers since January. He says the modus operandi is always the same: they call a driver to be picked up in one of the outer boroughs with Manhattan as the destination, and when they arrive, they use pepper spray to assault and rob their driver.
The targeted muggings have now reached a total of 19 incidents, with a surge coming between April 25 and May 4. One incident leaving a 73-year-old driver injured after being pepper-sprayed.
Mateo decried the attacks and criticized the NYPD for a failure to communicate with drivers. The activist also warned cabbies of the robbery pattern.
“It’s a breakdown in communication between the NYPD and our organization. If we know that these things are happening, we put out an alert, we let drivers in the vicinity know what’s going on. We put out pamphlets. We make our drivers aware, so that they can react in a certain way if this group of teenagers goes in their vehicle,” Mateo said. “It’s like pulling teeth trying to get information.”
In a recent incident, 32-year-old driver Juan Grullon of High Class car service picked up several youngsters in the Bronx who were headed to 77th Street and Madison Avenue.
When he pulled over to let them out, cops said one of the suspects doused Grullon’s face with pepper-spray, then rifled through his pockets and car for property.
Grullon said he had a bad reaction to the chemical, which left his lips covered in blisters. Meanwhile, the robbers had taken about $300 in cash and his credit cards.
While speaking with detectives, Grullon received a notification that the suspects were using his card to make purchases. The alert helped cops make several arrests.
“I’m scared now to even talk about it. At the time, you don’t know if they have a knife or something, you don’t because your eyes are closed, so you don’t know what’s happening around you. You just now feel somebody touching you and reaching into your pocket,” Grullon said, who also suffers from asthma. “It was very difficult to breathe. My eyes were burning, everything was burning.“
Even after the arrests, the drivers funed that the suspects did not face proper consequences for their actions.
One of the suspects, Lamonte Williams, had already been cuffed for several of these attacks but was still ultimately released, leaving Mateo to rail against New York judges.
“We spoke to [Manhattan District Attorney] Alvin Bragg’s office yesterday. We had a very detailed, deep dive into the situation, and we realized that DA Bragg had asked for $300,000 bail on one of the minors by the name of Williams. The judge paid no attention to the District Attorney and released the kid,” Mateo charged. “The kid went right back to doing the same thing, this time he got caught in Queens.”
