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29 March 2024

That's just 'sick': Serial thief robs Dubai taxis

Police had five complaints logged by different taxi drivers robbed by a passenger by asking them to buy him medicine. (Supplied)

Published
By Eman Al Baik

A jobless Jordanian is accused of robbing limousine taxi drivers by pretending to be sick and asking them to buy him medicine from pharmacies, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.
 
FR, 35, the Pakistani driver of a luxurious taxi was waiting at a mall when a security guard stopped him and asked him to pick a passenger up.
 
The passenger asked the driver to drop him at Dubai Marina and on the way pretended he was feeling sick and asked to stop at a pharmacy.
 
He gave the driver Dh200 and asked him to buy medicine.
 
“As I did not find the medicine he asked me to buy, I returned to the taxi and gave him back his money.
 
“I dropped him and later in the evening I discovered Dh6,200 missing from a box I kept in the car.
 
“Immediately I remembered the passenger who asked me to buy him medicine, as I did not leave the car open at all,” said the driver.
 
The police asked the driver to try to search for the passenger and to notify them if he saw him.
 
FR told his co-workers about the incident and asked them to inform him if they, by any chance, met a passenger who fit the descriptions of the one who robbed him.
 
On August 13, the victim’s co-worker told him that he picked up a passenger of similar description.
 
The passenger also asked him to buy him medicine from a pharmacy.
 
The passenger took down the mobile number of the driver to call him when he needs a taxi.
 
The driver who got robbed was given the number and he called it and fixed a pick up.
 
However, when he did pick the man up from Dubai Marina, he did not recognise him.
 
The passenger asked to be dropped to Sharjah and on the way, asked the driver to buy him medicine from a pharmacy at Tecom.
 
“I got off the car and headed to the pharmacy and as I returned, I saw the passenger getting off the taxi and stopping another.

“I checked my wallet which was in the car and found that $150 and Euro10 were missing.

“I followed the taxi until it stopped. The passenger got off and into a red Mercedes,” says the victim
 
The driver called the police.
 
“As I got into the car, he tried to move. I quickly changed the gear to prevent him from moving. He bit me on chest and arm and ran out of his car.
“He crossed Sheikh Zayed Road and took another car, but I could not see the plate number,” he said.
 
Police reached the accused via the owner of the Mercedes and identified him as AM, 36, jobless.
 
Police already had five complaints logged by different taxi drivers who were robbed by a passenger by asking them to buy him medicine.
 
All the drivers recognised the accused when shown to them.
 
Finger prints lifted from the victim’s taxi matched that of the accused.
 
The accused had theft records in different emirates and he is now in jail.
 
The court will give its verdict on March 30.