Cab driver attacked with hammer
Updated: November 6, 2012
Update: 6:20 pm, 11/5/12, Monday
URBANA -- A cab driver was hit several times with a hammer after he drove two men around the city. Police are searching for those men. WCIA-3's Anna Carrera has his story.
Felix Harris said the men asked him to drive to a park in Urbana but it was completely dark there and he didn't feel comfortable doing that. So he stopped at an apartment complex nearby. That's when Harris said they attacked him.
"You know how you get your hand slammed in the car door? Multiply that times 6,000," said Harris.
Instead of his hand, it's his head that's in pain. Harris said when he asked the men for the $5.75 fare they owed him, they attacked.
"If he's using a hammer, he's trying to kill me because he wasn't hitting me like he'd tap on a nail," said Harris. "He was hitting me hard."
Harris said he got out of his cab as quickly as he could and called for help.
"The people with 911 said stay there," said Harris. "I said I'm not going to stay here. They're chasing me with a hammer."
Harris has been behind the wheel of a Yellow Checker cab for about a decade.
"All I want to do is make a living," said Harris. "I'm trying to go see my grand-kids, four grand-kids I've never seen before."
Now he's not sure if he'll be able to go. He got a concussion from the attack and staples in his head. But Harris is just grateful it wasn't worse.
"The doctor said an inch to the left, I would have been a dead man," said Harris.
He said he knows his job can be dangerous but it's a risk he's willing to take to support his family.
"I see a thousand faces a day," said Harris. "You're not thinking this is going to happen."
Harris said he needs to wait about a week before he can get his staples out and it may be longer than that before he can head back to work. He still hopes to visit his family for the holidays this year.
Police said they have a few leads. The two men did not take anything from the cab.
Original: 11:07 pm, 11/3/12, Saturday
URBANA -- Police are looking for two suspects who attacked a cab driver while trying to rob him. It happened around 7:40 Saturday night.
Police say the driver picked up the men along the 1400 block of Dublin Street. Police say the men asked to be taken to Crystal Lake Park.
The men then asked if he could stop in the park, but the driver told police he refused. Instead, he stopped nearby along the 100 block of Park Street. That's when police say a suspect sitting behind the driver pulled out a hammer and started beating him, landing several shots to his head.
The driver escaped but is in the hospital. He's expected to be fine. Police say the suspects are black males in their early 20's. They were last seen running near Race and University Avenue.
Anyone with information is asked to call Urbana police at (217) 384 - 2320.
URBANA -- A cab driver was hit several times with a hammer after he drove two men around the city. Police are searching for those men. WCIA-3's Anna Carrera has his story.
Felix Harris said the men asked him to drive to a park in Urbana but it was completely dark there and he didn't feel comfortable doing that. So he stopped at an apartment complex nearby. That's when Harris said they attacked him.
"You know how you get your hand slammed in the car door? Multiply that times 6,000," said Harris.
Instead of his hand, it's his head that's in pain. Harris said when he asked the men for the $5.75 fare they owed him, they attacked.
"If he's using a hammer, he's trying to kill me because he wasn't hitting me like he'd tap on a nail," said Harris. "He was hitting me hard."
Harris said he got out of his cab as quickly as he could and called for help.
"The people with 911 said stay there," said Harris. "I said I'm not going to stay here. They're chasing me with a hammer."
Harris has been behind the wheel of a Yellow Checker cab for about a decade.
"All I want to do is make a living," said Harris. "I'm trying to go see my grand-kids, four grand-kids I've never seen before."
Now he's not sure if he'll be able to go. He got a concussion from the attack and staples in his head. But Harris is just grateful it wasn't worse.
"The doctor said an inch to the left, I would have been a dead man," said Harris.
He said he knows his job can be dangerous but it's a risk he's willing to take to support his family.
"I see a thousand faces a day," said Harris. "You're not thinking this is going to happen."
Harris said he needs to wait about a week before he can get his staples out and it may be longer than that before he can head back to work. He still hopes to visit his family for the holidays this year.
Police said they have a few leads. The two men did not take anything from the cab.
Original: 11:07 pm, 11/3/12, Saturday
URBANA -- Police are looking for two suspects who attacked a cab driver while trying to rob him. It happened around 7:40 Saturday night.
Police say the driver picked up the men along the 1400 block of Dublin Street. Police say the men asked to be taken to Crystal Lake Park.
The men then asked if he could stop in the park, but the driver told police he refused. Instead, he stopped nearby along the 100 block of Park Street. That's when police say a suspect sitting behind the driver pulled out a hammer and started beating him, landing several shots to his head.
The driver escaped but is in the hospital. He's expected to be fine. Police say the suspects are black males in their early 20's. They were last seen running near Race and University Avenue.
Anyone with information is asked to call Urbana police at (217) 384 - 2320.
