L.I. Woman Claims NYC Cab Driver Made Anti-Semitic Remarks, Threats

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island woman claims she had a nightmare cab ride in Manhattan and is now suing for financial damages.

Baila Sebrow has filed a lawsuit alleging a New York City cab driver made anti-Semitic remarks and threatened her.

"He went off on a maniacal anti-Semitic tirade," Sebrow's attorney, Robert Tolchin, told 1010 WINS.

Sebrow said when she got into a cab Sunday morning, the driver turned around and asked if she was Jewish. When she responded yes, Sebrow told 1010 WINS the driver "started screaming 'All Jews must die' and he started driving like crazy."

"I thought he would crash," Sebrow said. "I was terrified and I began to scream."

The driver then turned around and took Sebrow back to the hotel where he originally picked her up.

Sebrow and the driver then both called 911.

"When the police came I think they didn't understand what happened and they told her that she had to pay him. The driver had the meter running the whole time. Going nowhere wound up costing her $30," Tolchin said.

Sebrow said the police were "very nasty" to her.

"The officer said if I don't pay, she will arrest me. Then they made me get back into the backseat of the cab with that driver so that I could pay the driver with my credit card," Sebrow said. "The way this was handled, the reaction of the police I find disheartening."

An NYPD spokesman confirmed that police responded to the incident and said Sebrow was belligerent toward the officers, 1010 WINS reported.

Sebrow said she just wants people to be aware of such situations.

"My first thought was, 'Oh my gosh this guy is going on his merry way and he'll do this to someone else," Sebrow said. "The next person may not be so lucky. So all I was able to do is warn people. I felt helpless, powerless to do anything else."