Prince Ezenekwe, 54, had a brush with death in Brooklyn early on Monday morning and considers himself lucky to live to talk about it.
The livery cab driver was shot in the face in Canarsie when a passenger he picked up in the neighborhood tried to rob him. The perpetrator pulled the trigger, but the shot wound up grazing Ezenekwe’s face; in the end, the robber ran, and the driver brought himself to a nearby hospital for treatment.
As a husband and father, he says he is now questioning whether to remain in the Big Apple after he came within an inch of losing his life.
“I’ve lived in New York City for more than 25 years. As for whether I’m still going to live in New York City, that is a decision that I’m going to have to consider,” said Ezenekwe — his face still bandaged and bloody from the graze wound — during a press conference in Brooklyn Monday afternoon.
Ezenekwe says he was called to pick up a passenger at Flatlands Avenue and East 101st Street at around 1:25 a.m. on March 24. The man wore a ski mask when he got into the cab.
Before leaving the block, the passenger demanded that he take him back to the pickup location because he had forgotten something. Ezenekwe refused, instead pulling over and telling him to walk the short distance back. That’s when things escalated.
“He started yelling and calling me all sorts of names. He said: ‘Don’t let me kill you here.’ Ezenekwe recalled. “I didn’t take him literally because he was saying so many things already. Then he opened the car door, stepped out the car — the door was open. His body was still against the door. Then he refused to leave or close the door and stuff like that. And then he said: ‘I will have to kill you.’”
Ezenekwe says he turned to look at the passenger only to see a gun pointing directly at him. Out of desperation, Ezenekwe hit the accelerator, jerking the car forward just as the suspect fired.
“As a result of the car shifting, my head also shifted, and then he missed the target, and he fired the shot, almost immediately,” Ezenekwe said. “I’m the luckiest man alive. I’m the luckiest man alive.”
Incredibly, the bullet grazed his face, tearing open the skin and blowing the handle off the other car door. He felt blood immediately start oozing from his face and dripping over his body.
Ezenekwe raced away, believing the gunman was still chasing him. When he felt safe, he called 911 as he drove himself to Brookdale University Hospital.
“They gave me at least 12 stitches, they gave me anesthesia,” Ezenekwe recalled.
New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers spokesperson Fernando Mateo said that the masked gunman was using a known robbery tactic to try and steal from the driver at gunpoint.
“That’s usually the story, they forget something and they want the car to circle back. It’s happened numerous times,” Mateo said. “When the car is ordered, it’s ordered in a desolate street where no one is going to see what’s going on. These guys, case it out, make sure that there are no cameras on the block. Make sure that you know the intersections, that there are no cops around. Sometimes they work with teams.”
The NYPD was unable to confirm or provide data on this claim at the time of publication.
The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers said it is issuing a $5,000 reward for information that could lead to the capture of the shooter.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
