Calls for mandatory shields renewed after three taxi drivers stabbed

TORONTO – A taxi driver is in hospital after being stabbed twice while on the job becoming the third cab driver in March to be stabbed while working.

The taxi driver was attacked around 11 p.m. Tuesday while he stopped to pick up a passenger near Jane Street and Wilson Avenue.

The suspect also robbed the driver before fleeing the scene.

Tuesday’s attack is the third of its kind in March and is adding to renewed calls for mandatory shields in Toronto taxis.

Last week, a cab driver suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries after being stabbed twice in the stomach near Jane Street and Lawrence Avenue.

Mohammad Sourour – another driver allegedly attacked last week – was stabbed several times with a knife by a man he picked up.

“He didn’t demand anything, he just started stabbing me in the back of my head brutally, very quickly,” Sourour told Global News. “Imagine just doing your job and somebody just takes a knife and cuts you apart, a barrier is the only way to protect us.”

Sourour alleges that his attacker told him to pull into an alleyway near Lakeshore Boulevard. As he stopped, he says, his passenger repeatedly stabbed him in the back of the neck and head. He used his hands to block some attacks and managed to undo his seatbelt and escape.

The alleged attacker stole Sourour’s cab but was arrested a short distance away.

Eighteen-year-old Tylor Duhamel is now facing charges in connection to the attack.

Despite the quick arrest, Sourour wants city hall to investigate mandatory shields separating passengers from the driver to protect cab drivers throughout the city.

On Tuesday, the city’s Licensing and Standards Committee discussed the issue and referred a motion to study safety issues in Toronto’s taxi industry to city staff.