Taxi Driver Stripped Of License After Wild Altercation With Passenger

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A New York City cab driver has lost his hack license after he lost his cool with a passenger, literally yanking him out of his taxi.

New Yorkers reacted Wednesday to the video showing a taxi driver yanking a passenger out of his cab and sending him sprawling onto East 32nd Street.

"Oh, yeah, that's crazy," said one woman, reacting to the video.

The craziness unfolded outside a sushi restaurant in April, CBS 2's Tony Aiello reported.

Glenn Yonemitsu left his friends at 3 a.m. and got into a cab for a ride to Queens, but taxi driver Sidikiba Diallo balked at driving Yonemitsu to Sunnyside.

Surveillance video showed the driver spent several minutes at the rear door trying to get the passenger to leave. Then, Diallo climbed inside the cab and pushed Yonemitsu out onto the pavement.

"Everybody knows the TLC rules, say you gotta take whoever is in your cab wherever they wanna go," Jay Loftus said.

The passenger stood his ground, climbed back into the cab, only to be yanked out violently.

Yonemitsu told the Daily News "It hurt a lot. I ended up with a lot of injuries."

"A driver cannot use physical force ever. Period. End of story. And obviously what this driver did just goes way over the line," TLC Commissioner David Yassky said.

That's why Yassky decided to yank the driver's hack license this week.

Diallo told the Daily News "I want to defend my name" and claimed he tried to kick out the passenger because "he was very drunk."

CBS 2's Aiello showed that footage to some New Yorkers, who shared their reaction to Yonemitsu's demeanor.

"He just looks real cool, calm and collected," one woman said.

Although, it's unclear why after being pushed and yanked out, Yonemitsu got back into the taxi as Diallo drove away with its doors open.

"I really can't come to terms as to why he would continuously try to get back into this cab," Vance Gamble said.

The passenger finally jumped out and called police.

The driver did not face criminal charges, but his license was yanked after several hearings and appeals.