Unemployed for the past year, Lesford Loney’s decision to earn an income as a PH taxi almost proved deadly when he was robbed, beaten and almost shot by teenage bandits on Wednesday night.
With his swollen head still bandaged yesterday, Loney said that with God at his side, he will continue to work as a taxi driver if he does not find other work.
He believes that despite one bandit telling the other to shoot him, it was God that allowed him to fight off his attackers and escape.
Loney, 64, of Union Hall, San Fernando, said he was waiting for passengers at the Diamond Taxi Stand along Coffee Street, San Fernando when two young men boarded his white Nissan Bluebird Slyphy.
Driving off with a full trip, he dropped off three passengers at their destinations. However, the fourth passenger told him that he wanted to pick up some money and would pay him $40 for a ride to Pleasantville.
Loney said he dropped off the boy and his friend to their destination in Pleasantville when the passenger in the back grabbed him by his neck while the other ran around and opened his door to attack him.
After raising an alarm, one of them struck him twice on the head with a gun and they dragged him out.
“Shoot him, shoot the man,” one of the suspects told the other, but as the car began rolling, the gunman left Loney and chased after the car. Loney said he ran down a side street onto Cipero Road where he met a man in the car park and asked him to contact the police.
However, he said the man instead called his girlfriend who declined to help. He said he flagged down a car and was taken to the police station and later went to the hospital.
Based on CCTV footage from the area, it appeared that there were two other men involved, who were circling the area in a Nissan Tiida and later picked up one of the suspects.
On Thursday, Loney said he and a friend were searching for his car, which was spotted at a recreation ground in Thompson Gardens, in Ste Madeliene. By the time they arrived, it was gone.
It was while standing outside another home at Tarodale Gardens, Ste Madeleine later that day, one of the suspects and a child drove up the street. He said he and other residents surrounded the car and the suspect got out and ran.
“I tried to snatch him but when the big one recognised me, he ran and I chased him but he was fast. The small one sat down, but then ran away. They caught him down in the back. He could be around 12 or 13 years, but he was not in the car that night.”
The car was still in custody at the Ste Madeleine Police Station and he said about $200 and some CDs were stolen. Once his car is returned, he said he will resume work.
“Before I leave to go and drive my car, I always ask my God for guidance and protection. I asked Him to show me the seen and unseen. I believe in my God and everything worked out.”