Halloween taxi dispute had Vancouver man feeling 'like a hostage'

Passenger claims taxi took him on wild ride A Vancouver taxi driver took off after a verbal clash with a customer over the weekend, leaving the passenger calling 911 for help.

A Vancouver man who was out for Halloween Friday night says his taxi driver drove off with him in the back seat, forcing him to call 911 for help.

Rob Anderson says he and his female friend from out of town got in a Black Top cab around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning. They were heading from Chinatown to Yaletown, but wanted to stop for a late night snack at Fritz European Fry House near the Granville strip on the way.

Anderson's friend got out of the cab to go get fries, and Anderson says that at that point the driver became impatient and demanded payment. When Anderson insisted on waiting for his friend, the driver allegedly left with him in the back seat.

"He said 'I'm going to teach you a lesson.' He locked the doors and he said 'I'm going to drive you back to where you came from,'" Anderson told CTV News.

"I asked the cab driver to pull over and he refused, literally taking me hostage in his cab."

He called 911 from the back seat, and says he gave police a running count of the streets they were passing. Eventually, police pulled the taxi over at Robson and Hornby.

Vancouver police confirmed they were involved in the dispute and told CTV News neither side was particularly cooperative when officers attended around 3 a.m.

Amrik Mahil, president of Black Top and Checker Cabs, says the story doesn't make much sense. Instead, he blames Anderson.

"He refused to leave [the cab] and he refused to give him money," Mahil told CTV news.

Mahil explained that cab drivers usually oblige requests to stop for food, as long as the stop doesn't exceed five to 10 minutes.

"If a person goes out of the car they usually leave money so you know they're going to come back," he said. "The normal procedure is if they leave $20 and they're not back before the meter hits $20 then you can go."

He also added that sitting in a taxi doesn't make the driver much money. Driving the car is what drives the meter up faster.

Anderson thinks it was the slower fare while waiting at the fry shop that made the driver impatient.

"Seeing the other fares around, the taxi driver did not want to wait… and demanded we pay now and catch another ride home," he said.

Still, neither one can explain why the driver drove further away instead of just asking Anderson to leave.

Anderson says what upset him most about that night was that he was separated from his friend who was left alone in an unfamiliar city.

The odd behaviour also left him questioning whether the driver should have been behind the wheel at all. He says when he asked the driver to show him his chauffeur license, the driver refused.

When asked about the license, Mahil told CTV news he hadn't had a chance to ask the driver about that detail. He said if the documentation was not displayed, the driver would be in the wrong and need to address the issue in order to comply with city bylaws.

While Vancouver police now consider the matter closed as neither side wanted to pursue charges, the city of Vancouver says its bylaws staff are looking into the matter.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Penny Daflos.