A 76-year-old man, Joseph Meeks, was arrested in the Bronx after he allegedly shot a 27-year-old taxi driver, Alusine Barrie, over a fare dispute. The incident, which resulted from Meeks' inability to pay a $40 fare, escalated on Nelson Avenue near West 169th Street on Monday afternoon, shortly after the two men got into an argument. After an unsuccessful attempt to use four different credit cards, Barrie asked Meeks to exit the vehicle, which was followed by Meeks shooting Barrie in the abdomen as he reentered the taxi; Meeks then calmly walked to his apartment in a nearby retirement home, eyewitnesses told the police, as reported by ABC7 New York.
Barrie, a seasoned taxi driver of nine years who sends money back to support his family in Guinea, was rushed to Lincoln Hospital and is now in stable condition after surgery yesterday, "He told me that, ‘Mom, Mom, please come, I’m dying. Come, let us talk, please, please.'" Barrie's mother, Haja Idrissa Bahm, recalled the harrowing call from her son as she described to the New York Post. Expressing relief while recalling her arrival to the scene of her son lying in the street, she mentioned, "He’s on the ground. He tell me ‘Mom, I’m sorry about everything that I did to you’. I said ‘No, it will be ok, it will be ok, don’t say that'."
Authorities caught up with Meeks at his apartment where "it was like seven cops that went inside," eyewitness Raul Santos mentioned, detailing the moments leading up to the arrest where police resorted to a sledgehammer to forcibly open the door of the suspect's residence, as outlined by ABC7 New York. Meeks, who has a criminal history of 60 prior arrests including drugs and assault, is currently facing an attempted murder charge while in custody.
Fernando Mateo of the United Federation of Taxi Drivers visited Barrie in the hospital, where Barrie pleaded, "please don’t let me die," and then Mateo stressed the urgency of his job security by adding, "He started crying, and he basically said, ‘Call my job, and let them know to please not fire me,'" according to the New York Post interview. The TLC Commissioner, David Do, condemned the attack in a statement highlighting the need to offer support to the victim stating, “We are thankful that he’s in stable condition and reaching out to him to offer support. We also applaud the NYPD officers who rapidly apprehended the suspect.”
The attack has sparked outrage among local taxi drivers and their advocates with Mateo and the United Federation of Taxi Drivers urging the district attorney of the Bronx to ensure the man responsible is not released back on the streets, addressing the severity of a violent response over a seemingly trivial fare dispute "If he shot a guy for $40, that was defenseless, what's he gonna do if they let him out without posting bail?" Mateo argued in his statements to ABC7 New York.
