Toronto hit-and-run victim says he confronted driver over taxi scam

Mohamed Al-Rahawi was an active Uber Eats bike delivery driver before May 15, 2022, when his life was altered forever.

“I forgot how it felt like to be a normal human being,” said the 36-year-old outside the Ontario Court of Justice, recalling the pain and suffering since the night he was dragged roughly 100 metres by a minivan he believed was a taxi cab.

He explained it happened after he leaned into the passenger side of the vehicle on Toronto’s Church Street, and confronted the driver who he says took his debit card and gave him back a card that was not his.

“I said to him, ‘Look I had a bad experience with this in the past. Because it happened to me before, the taxi scam’ and he kind of became defensive. And I said to him, ‘OK, hold on’ and I go to my online banking, the login screen of my online banking, it shows my card number,” said Al-Rahawi.

“So I just lean into the car with my phone and I just showed him my card number on my phone and without looking at me, without looking at the phone, right away he pressed the gas, like I was halfway inside the car, and the car moved and I just hung to it. He wouldn’t slow down, he wouldn’t stop, he started driving like crazy to get away, he just wanted to (get) away.”

The next thing he knew, the minivan veered into a roadside patio at Wood Street, and Al-Rahawi fell off the vehicle before the driver took off. He remembered he couldn’t open his eyes or move.

“I just screamed, I yelled, I’m like please someone help me, someone call 911 and somebody replied and told me, ‘Yeah, we will, don’t worry, stay down,’ and then I heard a bunch of people rushing towards me from everywhere and then I went unconscious,” he recalled.

Police said that the suspect initially fled the scene but was later arrested near Wellesley and Sherbourne streets. His vehicle was later located at Jarvis Street.

More than two weeks later, Al-Rahawi woke up in hospital in critical condition. Both his legs were fractured and doctors thought they might have to amputate his right leg.

Al-Rahawi spent three-and-a-half months in hospital and only began to walk with a cane in February.

He also learned upon coming out of a coma that a man had been arrested and charged with failing to remain at the scene of an accident and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

“It was a pure evil crime,” said Al-Rahawi who still walks with a limp, has a metal rod in his leg and says he finds it difficult to stand for long periods of time.

On Thursday, 26-year-old Shubham Joshi appeared in the Ontario Court of Justice flanked by family who tried to shield him as he left the courthouse. He remains out on bail pending the outcome of his trial. Outside the courtroom, he was also served with a civil suit

Al-Rahawi said he’s not out of the woods yet when it comes to his right leg, which doctors say may still need to be amputated.

“I came to the edge. I thought I was going to die. Like seriously, I thought I was going to die.”