Cabbie Loses License For Tossing Passenger Into Street In Midtown

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A cabbie lost his license Tuesday, after he was captured on video grabbing a passenger from the back seat of his taxi and hurling him onto the street.

Security video shows cab driver Sidikiba Diallo fighting with passenger Glenn Yonemitsu in the middle of East 32nd Street, as a car stops to avoid hitting the cabbie, the New York Daily News reported.

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission sent Diallo before an administrative judge, who concluded that the cabbie had assaulted Yonemitsu, the Daily News reported.

The commission planned to send a letter to Diallo, a Bronx resident and 20-year veteran cabbie, informing him that his license has been revoked, the newspaper reported.

Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky told 1010 WINS that it is never acceptable for a taxi driver to use force against a fare.

"A taxi driver simply can't use physical force with a passenger, whatever the circumstances, and even if you have a passenger who's being difficult, the answer is call the police," Yassky said.

Yonemitsu said Diallo refused to take him back to Sunnyside, Queens, from a Midtown Japanese restaurant, and attacked him when he refused to leave the cab, the Daily News reported.

Diallo countered that Yonemitsu was too drunk to provide a specific destination, and that the passenger broke a door lock, threw up, spat and cursed, the Daily News reported.

The judge agreed that Yonemitsu was likely drunk, having been imbibing for three hours and eating only bar food, but he said the cabbie should have called 911, the newspaper reported.

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