Pays For Illegal Pickup, Pursuit At JFK Airport
A livery cab driver from Ridgewood is spending the next six months behind bars for unlawfully soliciting a family of four from Panama at John F. Kennedy International Airport last February, then imprisoning them in his vehicle as he fled from authorities who tried to stop him, it was announced.
He was identified by Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown as Bhupinder Singh, 38, of Himrod Street, who pled guilty on May 7 to a charge of first-degree unlawful imprisonment. Queens Criminal Court Judge Dorothy Chin-Brandt, who accepted the plea deal, ordered Singh on Tuesday, June 5, to serve a six month prison sentence and five years’ probation upon release.
“With summer travel season already in full swing and visitors flocking to our city, it is important that we provide a safe and welcoming environment at our airports,” Brown said in a statement on Tuesday. “As this case clearly illustrates, unregulated taxis and unscrupulous drivers – who are not properly licensed and who do not carry appropriate insurance – put passengers at serious risk. Reckless behavior such as that exhibited by the defendant can neither be tolerated nor go unpunished.”
As previously reported, the incident took place on the afternoon of Feb. 21 outside Kennedy Airport’s international Terminal, where Singh illegally offered arriving passengers his services as ground transportation for hire.
Law enforcement sources said Port Authority Police Officers Dante Castro-Recio and Robert Fury observed Singh escort a family of four from Panama into his Lincoln Town Car, and they maneuvered their un- marked police car in front of Singh’s cab in order to prevent him from moving.
When the officers exited their vehicle and identified themselves as police officers, authorities noted, Singh locked the family inside his cab, put the sedan in reverse and drove around them. The officers got back into their vehicle and followed the taxi, leading to a high-speed pursuit.
As Singh fled the scene at a high rate of speed, a 12-year-old passenger reportedly became fearful, grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it to the right, causing Singh’s vehicle to crash into a guardrail and resulting in minor injuries to his parents.
Singh then fled the vehicle and ran away on foot. He was, however, subdued after a brief foot pursuit and an attempt to resist arrest.
The Port Authority Police Department’s investigation was conducted under the supervision of Superintendent Michael A. Fedorko.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Catherine C. Kane, chief of the D.A.’s Airport Investigations Unit, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Gerard A. Brave, chief of the D.A.’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau, and Mark L. Katz, deputy bureau chief; and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
