The search for two robbers who shot and badly wounded a Philadelphia cab driver early Saturday continued into Sunday.
Alex Destin, 38, 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.
Destin told police both men fired a shot at him, striking him in the arm, causing him to crash into several 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.'"
NBC10 obtained surveillance video from a nearby deli that may be related to the shooting. The video shows Destin's cab speeding through a stop sign at 24th and Morris moments before crashing into parked cars. The video also 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.
Destin, who has a wife and four children, was grazed in the head by three bullets during the shooting and has one still lodged in his arm. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital where he is currently in stable condition. Doctors are trying to determine how or if they can restore the use of his arm.
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"He can't even move," said Destin's sister-in-law Ginia. "He can't even do anything right now. I don't understand how other people can come in and try to take the money and try to kill somebody. It's not fair."
Despite his injuries, Ginia knows her brother-in-law is also fortunate to be alive.
"Thanks to God he's still alive," she said. "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.
