Cab Driver Who Was Shot by Passengers Returns Home

A Philadelphia cab driver who was shot by two of his passengers during an attempted robbery over the weekend was released from the hospital Tuesday.

"I have a lot of pain but I say thank you God I still survived," said 38-year-old Alex Destin.

Destin told police he picked up two men and a woman at the corner of Broad and Wharton streets, in Point Breeze, about 3:30 a.m. Saturday.

One man got in the front passenger seat while the second man and the woman sat in the back. While he was driving them to their destination, two of the passengers pointed guns at Destin and demanded money, police said.

"The guy pointed a gun in my face, told me 'don't move' and he shot me," Destin said.

Destin told police both men fired a shot at him, striking him in the arm. Destin then sped off. Surveillance video from a nearby deli captured Destin's cab speeding through a stop sign at 24th and Morris moments before crashing into parked cars.

The suspect who was in the front passenger seat fled. Meanwhile, the man and woman in the back seat were trapped and kicked the doors and windows, screaming to be let out as Destin flagged down a police officer. Before the officer arrived however, an unidentified passerby opened the cab door, setting the second man and the woman free, according to police. 

Bonnie, a local block captain whose car was struck by the cab, told NBC10 she confronted the second man and woman after they got out.

"The girl, she was trying to hide," Bonnie said. "The guy was like, 'yeah, he hit your car and he hit them on purpose.' And I was like, 'so where are you going? You're a witness.'"

The deli's surveillance video shows a man waiting on two others at Morris and 24th five minutes after the cab crashed and two minutes before police arrived at the scene. All three people in the surveillance video match the descriptions of the robbery suspects.

Destin, who has a wife and four children, was grazed in the head by three bullets during the shooting and struck in the arm. On Tuesday he was released from the hospital and went home to continue his recovery. He still had blood on his shoes, stitches above his eye and a bullet lodged in his arm.

"Thanks to God he's still alive," said Destin's sister-in-law Ginia. "But he's in pain but he's alive." 

Police are searching for the three suspects, all believed to be in their 20's. One of the suspects is described as a black male with close cropped hair between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-5 inches tall who was wearing a 3/4 length coat and carrying a tote bag. The woman is described as a stocky black female with long, wavy hair standing 5-foot-1, wearing a waist-length coat and carrying a bag.

 "Turn yourself in," said Nakira Carter, whose vehicle was struck by the cab and is now too damaged for her to drive. "You did something wrong. Own up to it." 

If you have any information on the incident, please call Philadelphia Police.