Winnipeg taxi driver faces charges after woman dragged by vehicle, police say

A 51-year-old taxi driver has been arrested and faces multiple charges after Winnipeg police responded to a report of an assault Wednesday morning. 

Officers were called to the St. John's neighbourhood around 10 a.m., after a woman, 23, suffered minor injuries when she was dragged by a vehicle, police said in a news release Thursday.

The woman told police she'd left her cellphone in a taxi and the driver asked for money to return it. When she tried to get her phone, he drove off and she was dragged by the cab, police said. 

The cab driver has been arrested and faces charges of extortion and dangerous operation of a conveyance/vehicle. The driver also faces two charges under the Highway Traffic Act: driving carelessly and failure to exercise due care for a pedestrian.

The 51-year-old man has been released on an undertaking, police said.

A video posted on Facebook on Wednesday night shows a person in black pants and a black hoodie reaching into the passenger side window of a Duffy's Taxi cab, before the driver quickly accelerates with the person clinging to the side of the vehicle.

Winnipeg police would not confirm or deny whether the video in question is of the same incident they released details about on Thursday.

The man who shot and posted the video, Gerry McAusland, said the incident happened outside his home, which is in the St. John's area, the same neighbourhood police reported the incident with the cab driver took place.

McAusland said the woman in the video is his friend, and she was dropped off at his place by a cab early in the morning on Wednesday. She came inside and called her phone once she realized it was missing. 

McAusland said the cab driver told her she would have to pay the fare costs associated with him driving back to the neighbourhood to return the phone, or she could go to the Duffy's headquarters to get it herself.

"I said, 'Tell him to bring it, but he has no right to do that, that's extortion,'" said McAusland. 

When the driver returned, he told the woman to pay but she refused, according to McAusland, who was recording the exchange from his yard. The woman saw her phone on the passenger seat and reached in to grab it, and that's when the driver took off with her holding on to the side of the vehicle, said McAusland.

"He didn't take off at, like, normal speeds that people take off at, he took off," said McAusland. "He had no intention of stopping; he didn't even stop at the stop sign at the end of our street. He took a left on Andrews [Street] and that's when she flew off the car."

McAusland said his friend has minor scrapes and bruises. She's also angry.

"She said, 'I can't believe the cab driver would do this.' I said, 'Oh, I've heard about this stuff," said McAusland. "That's why I wanted to see what he would do, that's why I recorded it.… I wasn't expecting what I saw."

McAusland said he called 911 right after. He says he also called Duffy's but didn't get through to anyone, and hasn't received a call back yet.

He said police followed up with him over the phone Thursday to confirm they arrested the cab driver involved in the incident.

"They've got to be held accountable," he said. "What I'd like is for people to come forward and tell these stories."

In a statement, Duffy's said the company became aware of an incident on Wednesday involving one of its drivers returning a lost cell phone. Duffy's said it suspended the driver after reviewing video of the incident.

"We take very seriously issues related to passenger safety," the statement reads. "In addition to the suspension we have put out a bulletin to all drivers to remind them of appropriate response and the need to ensure safe driving practices at all time [sic] no matter what the circumstances."