Taxi driver attacked after passenger was sick in cab
A TAXI driver claims he was attacked by a couple who were sick in his cab and then refused to pay the cleaning fee.
Koorosh Afshari said he was dragged out of his car and attacked after taking the passengers to Partington, Trafford, from the city centre.
The 48-year-old was left with ripped clothes and scratch marks all over his body.
Koorosh said the female passenger had been sick in the back of the taxi.
When he questioned the couple, he says the male passenger ‘blamed it on the heating’ in the car.
Koorosh said: “A couple had called for a taxi and I picked them up from Peter Street in the city centre.
“Halfway there, the woman started being sick.
“After a few minutes, the man started telling me it was because the taxi was too hot and said he was going to be sick too.”
Stopping the car on Wood Lane in Partington, Koorosh said he told the couple he would be charging them a cleaning fee.
Angered, he claimed the male passenger then left the vehicle before Koorosh asked the woman to pay for the journey last Saturday.
He says she refused and only offered to pay £10 for the whole trip – despite it costing £34 and then £20 in cleaning fees.
Koorosh was then dragged out of the car by the man as he called police to report the passengers’ details.
The taxi driver said: “He was shouting at me and screaming and just opened the door and pulled me out.
“I was in so much pain and was crying. I was on the floor and was trying to push him off”
The argument caught the attention of nearby resident Michelle, who ushered taxi driver Koorosh into her house and called for help.
She told the M.E.N the ordeal was ‘horrendous and upsetting’ but that emergency services said it would take ‘around four hours’ to send an ambulance to Koorosh’s aid.
She said: “I had heard all this screaming and shouting and wanted to see what it was. I saw him being attacked and knew I had to help out.”
Cabbie Koorosh called Michelle an ‘angel’ for helping him.
Injured and with a painful shoulder, he drove himself to A&E where he was checked over and sent home.
He added: “It was frightening and I was in really bad pain.”
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “An investigation is underway into what happened, the victim has been updated on its progress, and officers are following up a number of lines of enquiry.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”