Teens attack Evesham taxi driver and try to steal keysA TAXI driver has described how he was attacked by a gang of teenagers who tried to steal his car keys.
Mark Dale, who runs K & M Private Hire, was punched by two of the teenage boys and they trapped him in his car and then attempted to steal his keys from the ignition.
One teen punched Mr Dale, just scraping his shoulder, while aanother hit him in the jaw through the open driver’s window, before another tried to steal the keys. As Mr Dale tried to get out of the car, they slammed the door on him twice.
A 16-year-old Worcester teenager was arrested on Saturday night (August
after the incident which happened at around 10:40pm. He has been bailed to return to the police station at a later date.
Mr Dale, who has been a taxi driver for two years, was booked pick up a group of four teenagers from Abbey Park car park in Pershore to take to a house party in Bishampton.
However, when he arrived at the address there were six teens, aged between 16 to 18, expecting a lift to the party.
Mr Dale told the group he could only take a maximum of four, and the rest would have to find another mode of travel.
The 43-year-old said: “I told them I couldn’t take them all at once, so the others would have to find another way of getting there.
“They were messing around for about five minutes. Five minutes doesn’t sound a lot, but when you are doing job after job, it takes up your time.
“I didn’t realise but all the boys got in. It was as I looked back to reverse, I saw them all crammed in the back.”
After telling them to get out, the boys became violent.
As the taxi driver escaped the scene, one of the teenager’s kicked the back of his car, leaving a dent in the bodywork.
Fortunately Mr Dale was not seriously injured in the attack, but his taxi was damaged.
Mr Dale, from Evesham, said: “I drove off pretty quickly as I didn’t know if they had any weapons.
“When I drove off, I felt a big bang.
“I will need to get the dent repaired, which is the last thing I need right now. It’s already a struggle.
“They didn’t like it because I stood up to them.”
Mr Dale said he is still in shock after the attack.
He added: “That’s never happened to me before. It was all a bit of a shock. It was weird.
“It’s not kicked in yet. It might later when I pick up four lads at night.”
Anyone with any information about the crime is asked to call police on 101 quoting crime reference 22/66742/20. You can also give information using the ‘tell us about’ section on the West Mercia Police website.
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