A cab driver was arrested Wednesday in San Diego after he allegedly assaulted a transit officer with his taxi, hitting the victim and dragging him down the street in downtown’s Marina area.
“He dragged the officer, with his feet dangling, all the way to the corner,” witness Jorge Soto told NBC 7.
Soto was walking to work when he noticed a San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) security officer trying to stop the driver of a taxi near Kettner Boulevard and Harbor Drive.
“He didn’t want to stop,” Soto recounted.
Soto said it appeared as if the MTS officer asked the taxi driver for his identification. The driver refused and began to drive away. Soto said the MTS officer tried to stop the driver by taking a hold of the cab's steering wheel through the driver’s open window.
As the taxi driver took off, the officer kept hanging on to the wheel and was dragged for a short distance. Eventually, Soto said the taxi driver maneuvered the cab and was able to knock the MTS officer off of the wheel.
The San Diego Harbor Police Department said officers were called to the scene just before 11:30 a.m. They confirmed the MTS officer was dragged after attempting to stop the taxi driver and said he suffered minor injuries – mostly scrapes and bruises.
Local
Officers began searching for the driver of the cab and dispatched a description of the vehicle to other officers in the area.
Just after 12:05 p.m., officers with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) located the taxi in the East Village, near 19th Street and Island. The driver was arrested on suspicion of assault with a vehicle.
No one else was hurt. No further details, including the suspect's name, were immediately released.
