Edmonton cabbie sues passengers over false assault (molestation) allegations

Last Updated: Friday, May 15, 2009 | 12:26 PM MT
CBC News

A veteran Edmonton taxi driver is speaking publicly about a civil lawsuit he filed last year against four young women who falsely accused him of sexual assault after travelling in his car three years ago.

In April 2006, Yasa picked up the young women, all 19, along Whyte Avenue, a well-known strip of bars and restaurants in Edmonton. The girls were intoxicated, and trouble began when one of them tried to light up a cigarette, Yasa said. It is illegal to smoke in an Edmonton taxi cab, and Yasa told her to put out the cigarette or risk a $500 fine.

Just then, the girls demanded Yasa stop the cab, and they got out, refusing to pay the $13 fare. Then they accused Yasa of sexually molesting them, Yasa said. They called their friends, and Yasa soon was surrounded by what he calls a "mob." Both Yasa and friends of the four girls called police.

However, what happened in the taxi was caught on a video camera Yasa had installed inside his car after a passenger tried to assault him a couple of years before. Based on the video evidence of what happened in his cab, Yasa was not charged.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/05/15/edmonton-cab-driver-lawsuit.html

Vid of the story: http://www.cbc.ca/clips/mov/fralick-2-cabbie090515.mov

Those girls are trash.

If that camera hadn't been there those idiot girls could have ruined the man's entire life over a freaking cigarette. There should be slightly heavier consequences for that kind of conduct than requiring them to pay their taxi fare.

I can't believe the police were satisfied with a $13 fare.

:dem:

-Laelth

And it sounds as though there could be a charge of inciting to riot, too.

I hope the cab driver collects!

It sounds like the police were trying to wash their hands of it and get rid of the case as soon as possible.

That guy could have had his life ruined if he didn't have that camera.

Or it is a case of a group of middle class white women against a non-white man. Down here in the South that still loads the case against the man almost every time.

Seriously, I hope they have to pay him money out of every paycheck they make for the rest of their lives.

Potentially, they could have ruined his life.

that women NEVER lie about these things. :sarcasm:

I hope he gets justice and that they learn a serious lesson.

Not every claim of sexual assault is true, and the standard of proof and burden of proof should be as high as with other crimes.

I don't know if he'll be able to collect anything from the defendants, but he will certainly be able to win damages from them.