Ex-cabbie, wife arrested in robberies

Jen Lawson

Friday, Aug. 22, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

A former cabdriver and his wife were arrested Thursday in connection with the robbery of at least two cabdrivers at gunpoint in the past month.

Anthony Charles Walker, who drove a cab in Las Vegas for a year before quitting in 1998, and his wife, Brighitti Walker, both of Henderson, were taken into custody about 5 p.m. by investigators with the Nevada Taxicab Authority with help from Metro Police.

Police allege the couple were committing robberies around the same time as other thefts for which former cabdriver Wagnaw "Kevin" Getahun was arrested. Getahun surrendered in Los Angeles on Aug. 11 after a series of cab robberies and kidnappings in Las Vegas between Aug. 8 and 10.

The Walkers are charged with cabdriver robberies that occurred about 2:30 a.m. July 26 in on Sahara Avenue and Durango Drive and about midnight on Aug. 16 at Hacienda and Tropicana avenues, Yvette Walker, administrator of the Taxicab Authority, said

They were booked into the Clark County Detention Center on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and two counts with kidnapping with intent to commit a felony.

They are suspecting of committing at least four more robberies. The Taxicab Authority and Metro's robbery unit are continuing their joint investigation.

Anthony Walker might have felt comfortable targeting cabdrivers because he knows how they operate, Moore said.

Earlier this month Getahun made headlines when police sought him in connection with the carjacking of two cabs, robbery of an unsuspecting passenger who flagged him down and robbery of an escort service and a gas station. Police said Getahun also kidnapped a man from his home and forced him at gunpoint to drive through the city for close to an hour.