Providing transportation services has reportedly become a high-risk occupation for many Hispanics in Prince George’s County.
Independent taxi drivers report that they are victims of robberies almost daily, especially in the Langley Park area.
It is not the first time that Telemundo 44 has received these complaints. In January 2023, a series of armed robberies against independent taxi drivers set off detectives’ alarms.
“When it was the boom, when it came out on Telemundo that they came here, that the Prince George’s police already said that yes, that they would be watching, they saw results because there were captures,” said a host who wanted to remain anonymous. “But after that, things went back as if nothing had happened.”
In order to survive, independent taxi drivers in Langley Park have had to learn the difference between a request for service and a death trap in recent months.
Victims even pass information to other taxi drivers about robberies or attempted robberies, incidents they say remain frequent in the county.
“We see that… it continues the same. The same groups follow. The same way of committing a crime continues, so people get tired and say no, well, it’s time to live with this and take care of yourself,” added the taxi driver.
These drivers are attractive to criminals because of the cash that accompanies them.
“The fact that they hold you up with a weapon and you see your life go by very quickly in front of you and say they are going to kill me because I have $80 here, which is what I have done in the day for my family (it is scary) the driver said.
However, they assure that when they try to denounce, they do not find the support they need.
“When this keeps happening, when I go and say, ‘Hey, they robbed me, they put a knife in me,’ and they say that a detective is going to call me and three and four months go by and they don’t call me, I say, I don’t care. the police,” he said.
Adding to the disappointment with the authorities is that suspects reported by various drivers are allegedly still on the loose in the community.
Prince George’s County police sources said they have not seen an increase in robberies of independent taxi drivers in the Langley Park area. However, they conceded that this could perhaps be due to the fact that the victims do not report the incidents.
The authorities assured that they are investigating all the complaints and invited the drivers’ union to talk with them to reach a solution.
