Cab driver locks tourist in cab to get 10% tip

Louisiana cabbie accused of extorting 10 percent tip

KENNER, La. — Authorities in the New Orleans area say a cab driver is accused of locking a Texas tourist in his cab and demanding a 10 percent tip on a $33 airport fare.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office says in an incident report that 37-year-old Sohail Kahn was booked with extortion and false imprisonment, and the New Orleans Taxicab Regulation Bureau also seized his permit.

Kahn could not be reached for comment Wednesday by The Associated Press because he has no listed phone number.

The Times-Picayune quotes the incident report as saying the passenger, a 57-year-old woman from Bellaire, Texas, called 911 from her cell phone after arguing with the driver for a half-hour.

http://www.topix.com/news/weird/2010/06/louisiana-cabbie-accused-of-extorting-10-percent-tip

Then hed get a government blessing

...before calling the police?!?!?

and you know, one doesn't like to raise a fuss. :-)

Of course there would be the issue with luggage held hostage, but the article seems to indicate that she was at the airport--cops are everywhere.

When ya get stiffed, ya get stiffed. There's always the next fare.

Dear tourist:
Tip the fcuking cabbie, will ya? These guys barely break even these days. Hell, you're gonna pay more than $3.30 for a Lucky Dog or a Hurricane. How much skin off your @ss would it be to do the right thing?

(I myself always overtip cabbies, unless it was the worst ride in the world. In the last 20 years, there has only been ONE cabbie that I stiffed. I would say that suffocating BO, having to stop every so often to pick up another piece of trim that had fallen off the car, and interpreting the lane dividers on the FDR in an free-form impressionist manner, would limit one's expectations of gratuities. As you can see my bar is pretty low.)