Florida cabbie kills unruly passenger

Police: Florida cabbie kills unruly passenger

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- A taxi driver killed a drunken
passenger when the man refused to get out of his cab, police said.

Robert Lee Smiley Jr. was charged with first-degree murder and was
being held without bail Monday.

The victim, Jimmie Morningstar, became heavily intoxicated at a bar
and started a scuffle early Saturday, and a bouncer paid Smiley $10 to
drive Morningstar home.

"We thought we were doing the right thing," bar manager Dave Lynch
said.

Outside Morningstar's home, two witnesses told officers they heard
Smiley yelling at Morningstar to get out of the cab, and one saw
Smiley try to pull Morningstar out, then zap him with a stun gun, a
police report said.

Smiley, 56, yelled that he needed to make money and couldn't drive
Morningstar around all night, one witness told police. According to
the report, she said Smiley demanded: "Do you want me to kill you? Do
you want to die?"

Police said Smiley fired a gun twice into the pavement toward
Morningstar's feet, then twice at Morningstar, and drove off.

Morningstar, 43, died 30 minutes later at a hospital.

"Where To?" <where RemoveThis @to.man> wrote in message
news:g1ivo0pievgh82sv0o29cuo768ang6msi9@news...
 > Police: Florida cabbie kills unruly passenger
 >
 > WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- A taxi driver killed a drunken
 > passenger when the man refused to get out of his cab, police said.
 >
 > Robert Lee Smiley Jr. was charged with first-degree murder and was
 > being held without bail Monday.
 >
 > The victim, Jimmie Morningstar, became heavily intoxicated at a bar
 > and started a scuffle early Saturday, and a bouncer paid Smiley $10 to
 > drive Morningstar home.
 >
 > "We thought we were doing the right thing," bar manager Dave Lynch
 > said.
 >
 > Outside Morningstar's home, two witnesses told officers they heard
 > Smiley yelling at Morningstar to get out of the cab, and one saw
 > Smiley try to pull Morningstar out, then zap him with a stun gun, a
 > police report said.
 >
 > Smiley, 56, yelled that he needed to make money and couldn't drive
 > Morningstar around all night, one witness told police. According to
 > the report, she said Smiley demanded: "Do you want me to kill you? Do
 > you want to die?"
 >
 > Police said Smiley fired a gun twice into the pavement toward
 > Morningstar's feet, then twice at Morningstar, and drove off.
 >
 > Morningstar, 43, died 30 minutes later at a hospital.

Watch out for those Haitian cab drivers in South Florida, they don't take
any shit!<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->