‘AREA IS JUST NOT SAFE’
Ind. kin of cabbie shot in Bx. rob tried to get him to move
A Bronx livery driver, critically wounded when he was shot by three passengers during a robbery, ignored for years the pleas from his family to move out of the city to a safer environment.
Mamadou Diallo, 59, loves his job working overnights driving a livery cab too much to leave the city behind, his brother told the Daily News.
His brother Mamadou Alpha rushed to the Bronx from his home in Indianapolis to be by Diallo’s side as he struggled to recover from the holdup gone wrong.
“I tried to move him out so many times, but he always said he doesn’t want to,” said Alpha, 62. “This area is just not safe. I’ve brought it up many times but he says, ‘I stay here, I like it here.’ Hopefully, he changes his mind.”
Diallo was shot in the chest and grazed in the face during the robbery in Soundview on Thursday morning. Medics rushed him to the hospital in critical condition.
On Monday, he was still unable to speak but showing signs of improvement at Jacobi Medical Center.
“He moved his leg. He opened his eyes. So far so good,” Alpha said. “They did surgery on his chin and left arm.”
Alpha said doctors told him that his brother could eventually make a full recovery.
Meanwhile, Alpha is left to puzzle over why anyone would target his brother.
“That is my question, why would you want to rob or hurt him? It makes no sense. He is very nice and friendly and never try to hurt anyone,” Alpha said. “I mean if they came to rob him, he would give up everything he has to save his life.”
The NYPD on Saturday released surveillance photos of three men wanted for the shooting and asked the public’s help identifying them and tracking them down. No arrests have been made.
Diallo, who works for DAT Car Service on Soundview Ave., drove the three crooked customers in his Toyota Camry to Wood Ave. near Taylor Ave., where they tried to rob him about 2 a.m. and then shot him, cops said.
The men fled and a wounded Diallo drove off. He managed to get to V.I.T. Car Service on White Plains Road, where he stumbled out looking for help.
Originally from Guinea, Diallo came to New York in 1988. He has been a cab driver for the past 20 years.
“He loved it, he loved his job. He worked the night shift and he’s always done it,” Alpha said. “He usually prays at the mosque when the sun sets, then he goes to work.”
Diallo has three sons and a daughter. His youngest child is 14.
“He’s humble, a hard worker and a family man,” Alpha said. “I never thought something like this would ever happen to him. No, no, never — because he’s been doing it for a very long time and never this.”
Alpha said street violence has gone from bad to worse.
“I hope this gun violence gets under control,” Alpha said. “It’s really affecting everybody in this country nowadays no matter where you live, where you work. I hope our government will do something about it.”
Cops ask anyone with information about the suspects to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.