In a fit of alcohol-induced pique, a Delaware County woman fuming over her cab fare pushed over her taxi driver, stole his car and then crashed into two other vehicles, police said.
Colleen Avni, 55, was arrested after she stole the cab and ended up speeding through the front yard of an Upper Darby home and into two parked cars, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said.
Chitwood said officers responded shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday after the 57-year-old cab driver called them to report that Avni had sped off in his vehicle. He told police that he had stopped the cab because Avni was being belligerent and complaining about the fare.
As the driver stepped out to try and get Avni out of the cab, the woman also got out and pounced, according to the superintendent.
"He wasn't gonna drive her because who knows what's gonna happen, but she turned around and cold-cocked him and knocked him down and then stole the cab," Chitwood said.
Avni sped down the street, eventually careened through the front yard of a home on Greenwood Lane, smashed through a fence and crashed into two parked cars before coming to a stop, Chitwood said.
According to Chitwood, when officers arrived, the woman was nowhere to be found. They looked for her around the immediate area before eventually finding her hiding underneath a truck.
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"She admitted that she did it. She was just off her rocker," Chitwood said.
As she was being arrested, Avni also hurled racist insults at the cab driver, who is Sikh, Chitwood said, adding that the woman told police her regret was not running him over.
Chitwood said the woman has had multiple run-ins with the law, including arrests for prostitution, theft and harassment.
Avni now faces an assortment of charges including robbery, theft and driving under the influence.
