Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 02/01) - Shaken and a bit on edge, the cab driver that was beaten and robbed in Yellowknife on Oct. 28 is getting back to work.

The driver, who does not want to be named, said he doesn't blame the violence on the people of Yellowknife. He blames alcohol as a catalyst for the unmitigated attack.

"It is a very dangerous job," he said about driving taxi late at night and in the early hours of morning.

"Most people after 11 p.m., in my judgment, are not that bad. But alcohol makes them do bad things," he added.

"I see them go to work and they are nice and cheerful, but when they start drinking they turn a different way."

The City Cabs driver was working early on Oct. 28 when at 4 a.m. two men approached him for a ride, he said.

He added that one man entered the car, while the other continued a conversation on a cell phone. He said the man in the car had alcohol and so the driver asked him to remove it several times, saying it was illegal for him to transport open liquor in the taxi.

When the other man entered the car and refused to co-operate the driver asked them to get out, he said. Suddenly, the driver said he felt a punch to his face and then another.

He said he jumped out the door and was beaten on the street until he was unconscious. He said his wallet was also stolen.

He went on to say that one of the men fled while the other stood over him, asking if he was dead.

The cab driver struggled to his car, where he called dispatch, who called other cab drivers to the scene as well as the police.

"It makes me feel bad because I think I'm helping people," said the driver, whose injuries included bruises and a swollen eye.

"Some people pay me, some people don't," he added.

"And, you never know who you are going to pick up at night."

The driver said many cab drivers who work the nightshift share his feelings.

On the night of the beating, about five cabbies immediately went to the scene

"They were all very concerned about it and I had a sense of them being very protective," said Shirley McGrath, manager of City Cabs.

"The overall feeling was of disgust that this type of thing happened."

"I think they felt it was an isolated incident and not the beginning of a trend," McGrath said. "This does not mean that Yellowknife is descending into the depths of urban crime."

Two men have been charged with assault causing bodily harm and robbery resulting from the incident.

One man is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 6. The other man fled the Northwest Territories and police have issued a warrant for his arrest.