Around 7:15 p.m. last night, a Black Top Cab was stopped at West Hastings Street and Carrall when a man jumped into the taxi and forced the driver from the van. The driver was hit multiple times, but received minor injuries. The thief then sped off, southbound on Carrall Street.
Minutes later, police received a call of a taxi being driven at a high rate of speed in the area of Prior Street and the East Georgia Viaduct. Police also received a call of a collision between a taxi and another vehicle at the intersection of Clark Drive and Venables Street.
When police arrived at the scene, they found the taxi in flames and a citizen holding a man on the ground. Officers determined that the man being held had exited the taxi and attempted to carjack a vehicle that was stopped for a red light, westbound on Venables Street at Clark Drive. The driver of that vehicle, a 40-year-old woman from North Vancouver, was not injured, but was extremely shaken up in the ordeal.
Burned debris and glass litter Clark & Venables after cab-jacking crash. @VancouverPD on scene. Latest @CTVVancouver pic.twitter.com/j1a9Hezg4h
— Tom Popyk (@CTVPopyk) March 15, 2017
Staff Sgt. Randy Fincham said investigators determined the man being held had tried to carjack another vehicle stopped for a red light after escaping the taxi.
The 40-year-old woman behind the wheel of that vehicle was uninjured but "was extremely shaken up in the ordeal."
34-year-old Burnaby man remains in custody and is facing potential charges for robbery.
