LARGO, Fla. (WFLA) — Largo police continue the search for a gunman who shot a taxicab driver Monday night.
The armed robbery happened around 8:30 p.m. on Bradford Street, just north of Roosevelt Ave.
“A struggled ensued and during that struggle, the suspect shot the cab driver in the leg,” said Lt. Paul Amodeo, with the Largo Police Department.
Detectives say the driver was picking up a fare when the gunman approached.
Management at United Taxi, where the driver works, are not talking.
Increasing incidents have Taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers on alert.
A Lyft driver we spoke to said, “Who is protecting us, nobody is protecting us.”
She did not want to be identified, but said she was put in a situation that left her scared for her life two weeks ago. She says she picked up a passenger who was allegedly hiding from police and demanded she take him to a location, out of the way.
“He says, ‘No, you have to go there,’ and then he puts his hand on his pocket and that’s when I literally within three seconds took my seat belt off jumped out of my car and took my phone and called 911,” she said.
Two weeks ago, an Uber driver was carjacked in Bradenton. Last week, four men held a Lyft driver at gunpoint and had him drive around Tampa Bay to commit crimes. Only two of the four suspects were caught.
“There should be a congressman or someone who helps the community of taxi drivers, Lyft, Uber or any other taxi company where we can be protected,” said the woman, who recently quit working for Lyft.
Police are on the hunt for the gunman in this latest case.
“We’re going to do everything we can to try and find him,” said Lt Amodeo.
News Channel 8 reached out to United Taxi and workers there didn’t want to speak on camera, but said the victim was a veteran driver with the company and that their thoughts and prayers are with him as he recovers.
Largo police detectives are investigating this case as an armed robbery, and are asking anyone with information about the suspect’s identity to call the department or Crimestoppers.
