Cab Driver Avoids Assault Charges in West Des Moines Incident

West Des Moines authorities were dispatched to an apartment complex after a passerby alleged that a cab driver was assaulting a passenger about 3 a.m. Saturday.

But it isn’t the driver, a 42-year-old Des Moines man who drives for Capital Cab, who faces charges.

The cab driver told police that he delivered the passenger – a 23-year-old West Des Moines man – to an apartment complex at 8302 Westown Parkway, but he then claimed not to have money to cover the $17 fare. Two credit cards supplied by the passenger were denied and when the driver asked him to call a third party to pay the fare, the disagreement took a turn.

The passenger reported reached over the seat and began to choke the driver with his hooded sweatshirt, according to Officer Stephen Becker’s report on file at the West Des Moines Police Department.

The driver broke free and the passenger got out of the cab. The driver told police he tried to use force to detain the passenger, but he, too, broke free and took off running, leaving the denied credit cards behind.

Police tried to reach the suspect at his residence, Becker said. The lights in the apartment were on, but no one responded to the doorbell.

The cab driver told police that he wasn’t interested in pursuing assault charges, but wanted the passenger charged with theft of services for the $17 cab ride.