Police say a passenger set a taxicab on fire during a robbery attempt and died in the blaze. Bowie (Prince George's County, MD) Police say around 4:50 Friday afternoon, a detective spotted the cab on fire. The driver, a seven year veteran of the taxi business, told officers he had picked up a male fare from the Largo metro station and brought him to the 4200 Block of Northview Drive.
Before that, he says, there were warning signs. "He's drinking the spirit," the driver said. "Alcohol." The victim says the passenger, drinking and smoking in the back seat, first hedged and then became angered about a $34 fare. The driver explained the passenger then grabbed him from behind in a headlock, hissing 'Give me your money', and then deliberately set the cab on fire after dousing the back seat area with alcohol.
Whatta maroon. If he'd been carrying a gun, he'd have probably put a bullet through his own femoral artery while pulling it out of his pocket and the cabby would only be out a few packages of paper towels and a case of Formula 409...
"He is starting to put down the spirit, and he lit it... the liquor," recalled the driver. The driver with his hair in flames escaped the vehicle, but the passenger did not. One officer told the driver that rubber seals in the car's doors had melted, possibly trapping the would-be robber inside
and providing irrefutable proof of God's sometimes twisted sense of humor.
Witnesses came to the driver's aid, helping to put out the flames on his head. Firefighters found the passenger inside dead. His body was burned beyond recognition. Authorities have not yet identified the passenger.