Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Indian tourist in fake Paris taxi endured police chase before being charged €400 fare

An Indian tourist to Paris got more than she bargained when she flagged a fake taxi down at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport only to endure a terrifying high-speed chase with police and end up having to pay a €400 fare. The unsuspecting 29 year-old had just touched down in Paris to begin a company internship when she was picked up by the driver of an unmarked Renault Espace asking her whether she needed a ride.

No sooner had she shut the door than police waved the driver over for an identify check only to see him put his foot down on the accelerator and head for the A1 motorway towards Lille. Gendarmes gave chase as the car hurtled down the autoroute at an estimated speed of 200 kilometres per hour with its dazed and terrified passenger in the back seat. Believing he had shaken off his pursuers, the driver at one stage was seen pulling up on the hard shoulder.



He was about to bundle his passenger out, but “seeing the police patrol reappear,” he locked the doors with his victim still inside and sped off once more. After succeeding in losing the police a second time, the illicit cabbie finally stopped the vehicle at Survilliers, a town in the Val d’Oise department beside the A1 about a dozen kilometres from the airport. Instead of merely letting his victim go, the driver ordered his shaken “customer” to lie on the floor and hand over a taxi bill of €400 – the entire contents of her purse.

The traumatised tourist then reported the incident at a nearby police station. The suspect, a 46-year-old known to the police, has since been identified thanks to CCTV footage at the airport. He was arrested and charged with illegally working as a taxi driver, driving without a licence, abducting a passenger and refusing to comply with police. He is due to appear in court in Pontoise.

1 comment:

Barbwire said...

Did they give her back her money?