WASHINGTON — After hailing a taxicab this weekend, four men in Southeast D.C. punched, choked and robbed the driver, according to the victim.

The attackers then tossed him into the trunk. 

The shocking attack, which happened just after midnight Sunday morning, highlights the challenge drivers have of balancing service without bias and using their own discretion for safety. 

According to regulations, a D.C. taxicab driver in a for-hire vehicle is required to pick up would-be passengers trying to hail a ride, with limited exceptions.

“The operator would just have to be able to articulate what he saw made him believe that it was unsafe,” says Sharon McInnis, chief administrative officer for the D.C. Taxicab Commission.  

If the operator has reason to believe the would-be passenger is engaged in a violation of law or the operator fears injury to his or her person, property or taxicab, no service is required.

McInnis says emergency or panic buttons in the taxicabs are also a real possibility. 

“From our perspective it is going to happen,” she says. “We are working with the appropriate officials in other departments to put this in place.”

D.C. police are still looking for the four attackers. 

The driver was dropping off the men along the 3400 block of 5th Street in Southeast when they attacked and went to an ATM with the victim’s wallet.

Eventually, the men returned to the cab and freed the cab driver from the trunk.

The men ran away from the scene, according to D.C. police.

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