Two are arrested in taxi driver shooting

Jen Lawson

Friday, June 20, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.

Cabdriver Mark Chavez had just started his shift one night last month when he picked up two teens downtown.

After just a few blocks, one of them allegedly pulled out a gun, shot Chavez in the head and made off with some cash.

Bleeding heavily, Chavez managed to drive to a convenience store at Las Vegas and Oakey boulevards to get help.

"It was a true testament to his will to live," Taxicab Authority Investigator Art Lindsay said.

Lindsay investigated Chavez's shooting for six weeks. Wednesday night he arrested 19-year-old Charles Herbert Stanton and a 17-year-old male on charges of attempted murder, robbery, kidnapping and battery with a deadly weapon in connection with the May 9 shooting.

Chavez, 47, is recovering at a rehabilitation hospital, his mother Janet DuBois said. The bullet entered below his right earlobe and exited through his left temple. It also severed his left thumb; he was trying to protect his head with his hands, DuBois said.

A CAT scan at University Medical Center showed Chavez had suffered "extensive damage," including broken facial bones, severed arteries and a shattered jaw, DuBois said. Doctors managed to re-attach his thumb.

"He's going to live. He's coming along as well as expected," she said. "There had to have been an angel on his shoulder." Information from people living in the area of St. Louis Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard led to the arrest of Stanton and the juvenile, Lindsay said. When Lindsay called to tell her about the arrests, DuBois said she had mixed emotions.

"Mainly I felt a lot of compassion, because (the suspects) are so young," she said. "All I could think of is how many lives have been changed -- their lives, their parents' lives and my life. My son's life has changed drastically."

Chavez had been a cabdriver for five years. At the time of the shooting, he worked for Star Cab Company. DuBois said until this incident, Chavez had never been victimized by anyone he had in his cab.

This year, there have been a total of 21 cabdriver robberies in the Las Vegas Valley, and 17 involved weapons, Yvette Moore, Taxicab Authority administrator, said. Investigators have made seven arrests.

There were about 55 robberies of cabdrivers last year.

This was the first "robbery gone bad" shooting of a cabdriver in Las Vegas since 1999, Taxicab Authority officials said.

The Taxicab Authority, which is included in the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, is the only taxicab agency in the United States in which investigators have full police powers, Lindsay said. Their investigations are conducted with Metro Police.

"We aggressively pursue anyone who decides to prey on cabdrivers, and we pursue cabdrivers who use their position to commit crimes, " Lindsay said.

This week, the Criminal Apprehension Team, comprised of investigators from the Metro and Henderson police departments and the FBI, arrested a 27-year-old man near Maryland Parkway and Seven Hills Drive who is wanted in San Antonio, Texas for cutting the throat of a cabdriver.

After police arrested Jose Armando Morales on the Texas warrant, they found a citation in his pocket relating to the battery of a Las Vegas cabdriver that occurred earlier this month, Sgt. Ted Lee said.

Lee said "it sure would sound like" Morales has something against cabdrivers.

The more than 4,000 cabdrivers in the Las Vegas Valley undergo extensive driver awareness training, Lindsay said, including how to prevent a robbery. Also, cabs here are equipped with green emergency lights on the top of their cabs. When the green light is lit, it means the driver is sending a distress signal, Lindsay said.

Chavez may never have to worry about using the green light system again, however. DuBois said Chavez has suffered some memory loss, and she's not certain if he would want to go back to his job.

"His spirits are up and he seems confident about his recovery, but I know he's very apprehensive about driving again," DuBois said.