Cab driver's fare refusal may have cost Muzik victim her life: Friend
By Chris Doucette, Toronto Sun First posted: Friday, August 07, 2015 08:41 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, August 08, 2015 12:52 AM EDT
TORONTO - The city’s taxi industry is under fire in the wake of allegations cabbies out front of Muzik refused to drive a group of friends home early Tuesday because it was only an $8 fare.
Moments later, gunfire erupted in the nightclub, spilled out onto Dufferin St. and killed, Ariela Navarro-Fenoy, 26.
“I am deeply concerned,” City Councillor Jim Karygiannis said Friday, after news reports surfaced with the claim made by the innocent victim’s friend. “In my view, taxi drivers have a responsibility to pick up customers and take them to their destinations, regardless of the cost the taxi fare.”
Franca Abate told reporters she, Navarro-Fenoy and another friend knew trouble was brewing as they left the club in Exhibition Place after enjoying Drake’s OVO Fest after-party.
The friends decided to hop in a taxi, she said. But several cabbies parked on Dufferin St. allegedly refused to take them the short drive home to Bathurst St. and Lake Shore Blvd. W.
The trio decided to head up Dufferin to a nearby parking lot in the hopes of catching a ride in a friend’s car.
By then, bullets were flying inside Muzik and Duvel Hibbert, 23, was dead on the patio.
When the second burst of gunfire erupted, Abate said she looked back and saw her roommate on the ground.
She’s convinced Navarro-Fenoy would still be alive if one of the cabbies had just driven them home.
According to city bylaws, cabbies are “not permitted to refuse a fare based on limited distance.”
However, it seems drivers often pass on small fares and wait for a bigger fish to come along.
Since January 2014, the city has received 286 complaints about cabbies refusing low-fare rides.
“We have received a number of complaints about short fare refusals and we investigate all of them, but the problem that we’re having is that some of the information we’re provided isn’t enough for us to get any substantive charges,” a city staffer said, explaining it’s important to get the cab number, date, time and location.
So far no such complaints have been filed regarding the Muzik shooting, which also left three wounded.
But if a complaint were filed, the cabbie could face a $200 fine.
The iTaxiworkers Association, which represents cab drivers, tweeted about the issue suggesting “stricter penalties and enforcement” are needed.
Personal injury lawyer Sandra Zisckind said the cabbies who allegedly refused to drive Navarro-Fenoy could face much more than a fine.
“If it’s true she wouldn’t have died had she been able to get into a taxi, then the drivers are responsible for her death,” she said, adding the drivers, vehicle owners and taxi companies could all face a civil suit.
And while identifying the cabbies is an obstacle, Zisckind pointed out there’s a good chance they were captured by Muzik’s cameras or the 4,000 or so smartphones at the event.
— With files by Nick Westoll
Ariela Navarro-Fenoy, 26, was shot outside the Dufferin Gates Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 during the gunfire that began at Muzik nightclub during OVO Fest after-party.
Cab driver's fare refusal may have cost Muzik victim her life: Friend | Toronto
By Chris Doucette, Toronto Sun First posted: Friday, August 07, 2015 08:41 PM EDT | Updated: Saturday, August 08, 2015 12:52 AM EDT
TORONTO - The city’s taxi industry is under fire in the wake of allegations cabbies out front of Muzik refused to drive a group of friends home early Tuesday because it was only an $8 fare.
Moments later, gunfire erupted in the nightclub, spilled out onto Dufferin St. and killed, Ariela Navarro-Fenoy, 26.
“I am deeply concerned,” City Councillor Jim Karygiannis said Friday, after news reports surfaced with the claim made by the innocent victim’s friend. “In my view, taxi drivers have a responsibility to pick up customers and take them to their destinations, regardless of the cost the taxi fare.”
Franca Abate told reporters she, Navarro-Fenoy and another friend knew trouble was brewing as they left the club in Exhibition Place after enjoying Drake’s OVO Fest after-party.
The friends decided to hop in a taxi, she said. But several cabbies parked on Dufferin St. allegedly refused to take them the short drive home to Bathurst St. and Lake Shore Blvd. W.
The trio decided to head up Dufferin to a nearby parking lot in the hopes of catching a ride in a friend’s car.
By then, bullets were flying inside Muzik and Duvel Hibbert, 23, was dead on the patio.
When the second burst of gunfire erupted, Abate said she looked back and saw her roommate on the ground.
She’s convinced Navarro-Fenoy would still be alive if one of the cabbies had just driven them home.
According to city bylaws, cabbies are “not permitted to refuse a fare based on limited distance.”
However, it seems drivers often pass on small fares and wait for a bigger fish to come along.
Since January 2014, the city has received 286 complaints about cabbies refusing low-fare rides.
“We have received a number of complaints about short fare refusals and we investigate all of them, but the problem that we’re having is that some of the information we’re provided isn’t enough for us to get any substantive charges,” a city staffer said, explaining it’s important to get the cab number, date, time and location.
So far no such complaints have been filed regarding the Muzik shooting, which also left three wounded.
But if a complaint were filed, the cabbie could face a $200 fine.
The iTaxiworkers Association, which represents cab drivers, tweeted about the issue suggesting “stricter penalties and enforcement” are needed.
Personal injury lawyer Sandra Zisckind said the cabbies who allegedly refused to drive Navarro-Fenoy could face much more than a fine.
“If it’s true she wouldn’t have died had she been able to get into a taxi, then the drivers are responsible for her death,” she said, adding the drivers, vehicle owners and taxi companies could all face a civil suit.
And while identifying the cabbies is an obstacle, Zisckind pointed out there’s a good chance they were captured by Muzik’s cameras or the 4,000 or so smartphones at the event.
— With files by Nick Westoll
Ariela Navarro-Fenoy, 26, was shot outside the Dufferin Gates Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 during the gunfire that began at Muzik nightclub during OVO Fest after-party.
Cab driver's fare refusal may have cost Muzik victim her life: Friend | Toronto
