Nabbed in fake-officer taxi harass

A Staten Island man who police say has made a living by shaking down struggling New York City taxi medallion owners on behalf of predatory lenders is in custody, charged with impersonating an officer.

The city’s Sheriff’s Department has charged Anthony Medina with four counts of impersonating a New York City marshal. The department confirmed three instances over the past three years in which Medina, who does not work for the city, claimed to be a city marshal while harassing cab drivers.

“This arrest provides some long-awaited justice for medallion owners who were made victim of predatory practices for far too long,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Hardworking taxi drivers represent the best of this city, and my administration won’t stand by while innocent New Yorkers are exploited.”

In July 2016, Medina attempted to intimidate a taxi medallion owner at this home into giving up his cab, taxi medallion and rate card, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Medina allegedly convinced the cabbie to hand over the keys to his taxi.

Officials said Medina shook down another medallion owner who was parked in the West Village in November 2017. He allegedly also got the driver to cough up his keys, and made off with his cab.

Medina is also charged with breaking into a taxi in Queens last May, making off with its medallion, rate card and meter and leaving a false notice of seizure. When the medallion owner paid Medina off, he was instructed to not tell the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission about the kerfuffle.

A City Hall spokesman said Medina worked on behalf of lenders looking to be paid for predatory loans that funded taxi medallion purchases. There is an investigation into which lenders hired Medina.

The New York Times detailed some of Medina’s alleged nefarious acts in a lengthy report published last month about the taxi medallion crisis. Cab drivers told the Times that Medina had used a gun to intimidate them.