DESPERATION, DRUGS BLAMED

Robbery: After Cabbie Relieved of Money at Knifepoint, Taxi Industry
Veteran Says Crime Byproduct of Bad Economy

SAINT JOHN - Desperate times and desperate people are what a veteran
of the city's taxi industry believes led to an armed robbery of a cab
driver early Thursday.

"This type of crime usually surfaces when the economy is bad," said
Gerry Lowe, the former owner of Vet's Taxi.

"People looking for a (drug) fix is also part of it."

Saint John police are investigating the armed robbery.

The 55-year-old male driver was not hurt after he was robbed at
knifepoint on Carmarthen Street in the city's south end, said Sgt.
Glenn Hayward of the Saint John Police Force.

An undisclosed amount of cash was taken.

The victim called police at about 1:40 a.m. Police are still searching
for the suspect, described as a 25- to 27-year-old man who is about
five-foot-eight and 185 to 190 pounds.

The man was clean-shaven, wearing a red or maroon three-quarter-length
winter coat and a dark ball cap.

Hayward said the robbing of taxi drivers doesn't happen often in the
city, but Lowe's assessment of it being a crime of desperation, "would
make sense."

Lowe cited people losing their jobs in a poor economy as one possible
factor in the crime, but said - in his experience - drugs are likely
the driving force.

"Drugs are the biggest thing and people consider a cab driver an easy
mark for a small amount of money," Lowe said.

"You're not going to get more than $50 or $60 from a driver and that
little amount of money is usually for a drug fix."

As for driver safety, the former cab company owner said it comes down
to vigilance by a driver and he doesn't believe safety measures used
in larger cities are necessary in Saint John.

"We're not big enough for shields," he said referring to the Plexiglas
dividers used to separate passengers from drivers.

"We're not New York."

Lowe said most drivers employ common sense to keep themselves
safe.

"Once it gets dark, most drivers are very careful of who they let in,"
he said.

A call to a numbered house is usually safer than picking someone up on
the side of the road or in alleyways, he said.

"Ninety per cent of the robberies are pickups (off the
street)."

A recent court case involving a 19-year-old man who robbed a pair of
taxi drivers in October lends credence to Lowe's theory.

On Nov. 29, Kurtis Alexander Kincade was sentenced to five years in
penitentiary after he pleaded guilty to using a knife to rob two
drivers on Oct. 3, cutting one man on the neck and hands.

Kincade's addiction to crack cocaine was a contributing factor in his
crime spree, which included the two robberies and three
break-and-enters.

Anyone with information about Thursday's robbery is asked to call the
Saint John Police Force at 648-3333, 648-3211 or Crime Stoppers at
1-800-222-TIPS.