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Vile thug's huge mistake leads police to his door after fight with taxi driver
A drunken thug who strangled and punched a taxi driver before stealing his device for picking up fares and trying to headbutt and spit at police has been jailed for 44 months.
Officers easily found Jordan Rodriguies, 27, of Westbourne House in Princes Avenue, after he failed to remove the batteries from the location-tracking personal digital assistant (PDA) device quickly enough.
Rachel Scott, prosecuting, told Hull Crown Court Rodriguies and a friend had ordered a taxi to take them from Stockleigh Close, in Bransholme, to a nearby petrol station to get alcohol and snacks at around 2am on June 24 this year.
She told the court the journey to the petrol station passed without incident, with Rodriguies even paying the driver a £10 fare up front.
But just before they had got back, Rodriguies suddenly punched the driver in the head while he was still driving and started demanding money from him.
Miss Scott said the friend, who was sat in the back of the car with Rodriguies, was "shocked", asking him: "Why are you doing that for?"
But Rodriguies did not let up, demanding that the driver stop the car and hitting him again in the face.
He then wrapped his arm around the driver's neck, the court heard, continuing to demand money as the driver shouted at him to stop and scrambled to free himself, saying he was struggling to breathe.
But his resistance "seemed to anger [Rodriguies] more", Miss Scott said, and he punched the driver a further five or six times while maintaining the chokehold.
At this point the driver was beginning to lose his vision, the court heard, but "bravely" refused to give in to the demands for cash.
"The defendant must have realised he was not going to hand over any money, so instead he reached forward and took the PDA device and both men got out of the car," Miss Scott said.
Again, the court was told Rodriguies' companion asked him: "Why did you do that?"
Police were called and easily found Rodriguies because the PDA device he had stolen was tracking his location, the court heard.
They found him in bed and the device nearby, with the batteries belatedly removed, and he was arrested.
Miss Scott said that on the way to the police station Rodriguies told officers: "I jumped a taxi, I know what I've done."
But despite being initially cooperative, he soon became aggressive and spat at the perspex screen erected to protect officers at the desk.
A spit hood was placed over his head, but he carried on spitting into it, the court heard.
He then attempted to headbutt one of the officers, who luckily managed to dodge out of the way.
Miss Scott said Rodriguies was then tackled to the ground, at which point he began crying and said he would behave.
In a statement to the court, the taxi driver said he had feared more force would be used and counts himself lucky not to have suffered a significant injury.
He also said that "all he was doing was going about his business".
The officer who had been the target of the attempted headbutt called Rodriguies' actions that night "vile and disgusting".
The court heard Rodriguies had 15 prior convictions for 21 offences, including assault, weapons offences and theft, and had only been released from prison in May.
Harold Bloomfield, mitigating for Rodriguies, said he suffered from drug-related psychosis and had been receiving medication in prison but had not received enough to "tie him over" after his release.
He said he had struggled to get an appointment with his GP in Hull because of the coronavirus lockdown and his condition started to deteriorate.
He said Rodriguies had issues with another resident at a hostel he had moved into and soon began to "self-medicate" with drugs, adding that the subsequent problems were "only a matter of time".
"Clearly Mr Rodriguies has to address his problem with drugs," he added.
After sentencing Rodriguies, who appeared in court via video link from Leeds Prison, Recorder Nicholas Lumley said he had been "chuntering" throughout the hearing.
The judge had told the defendant: "Taxi drivers perform a very valuable service. They are inevitably vulnerable people working all hours who have no choice who gets into the car.
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