A taxi driver was shot early Tuesday during a robbery attempt on Aurora’s Near East Side, police said in a news release.
At 12:11 am., officers responded to the 400 block of Grant Street, where they found the 49-year-old driver in his taxi with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, according to the news release.
The man picked up a fare minutes earlier at a gas station at North Avenue and Broadway Avenue, according to police.
When the cabdriver dropped off the passenger at his requested location on Grant, the passenger demanded the driver’s money, then shot him in the chest and ran away, according to police.
At some point during the attempted robbery, the taxi driver accelerated and crashed into an unoccupied SUV parked nearby, police said.
The driver was not apparently injured from the crash, just from the shooting, according to police. Aurora Fire Department paramedics took the driver to an Aurora hospital for treatment. The passenger did not get away with any money or valuables, according to the news release.
Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the shooter, who is described as a black man, possibly in his 20s, about 5-foot-9, of average build with a mustache and possibly a goatee. He was wearing a white winter cap, blue hooded sweatshirt, black puffy jacket and gray jogging pants with a white stripe, according to police.
Police ask anyone with information to call Aurora police investigators at 630-256-5500 or Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and qualify for a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to any arrests.
People also can submit tips through the Aurora Police Department’s free My PD mobile app.
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