Just after 1am Sunday morning Sept. 23rd, near the Intersection of the Trans Canada highway and McKenzie ave, a 911 call was received about the ongoing robbery of a cab driver at the intersection. The incident was observed by three separate witnesses, who were able to provide a good description and a direction of travel for the suspect.
Luckily, at the time of the robbery, a broken down motorist was in the process of having their car towed on the other side of the highway. The robbery was witnessed by the two occupants of the car and by the tow truck operator.
The victim, a driver for Westwind Taxi had picked up the suspect in Langford and was driving him to Saanich. The fare became verbally abusive and threatening during the ride. The cabbie decided to turn around and take the male back to where he had picked him up. When the fare became too much to handle, the cabbie pulled over on the Trans Canada highway and exited the cab in an attempt to escape.
Once the driver exited the cab and started to walk away he was pursued by the suspect and struck in the face breaking his glasses. The driver, a 57 year old local man, sustained minor facial injuries and broken glasses.
Cst. Justin Whittacker and police dog Taz arrived on scene and were deployed into the area to search for the suspect. In only minutes, Taz located the suspect male hiding in bushes near the Goose Trail portion near the high school.
Items taken from the victim were recovered from the person of the suspect including a cell phone and a jacket.
The suspect, a 30 year old Saanich resident, is well known to police. He was out on strict conditions for other outstanding charges from Victoria, including another robbery charge and an assault. Charges include Robbery and breach of an order for violations of the conditions of his release.
12-19868