Cabbies demand action in slaying probe, safety issues

David Kihara

Thursday, March 17, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

A group of cabdrivers and their supporters gathered on Wednesday to demand that authorities step up efforts to identify and arrest the killer of a local cabbie 20 months ago.

They also continued to call for security cameras in all cabs as a way to deter attacks against taxi drivers.

Aberga Yerga Asmamaw, a 39-year-old Western Cab driver, was strangled in his taxi on Aug. 11, 2003.

His fellow cabbies have collected 500 signatures urging lawmakers and police to solve the case.

"We want to get some action from Metro Police," said Greg Bambic, who has been driving taxicabs for 25 years and was one of the leaders in gathering the signatures.

"The investigation has not gone anywhere," he said, adding that he did not fault Metro Police for not finding Asmamaw's killer or killers but wanted the justice to be served.

Lt. Tom Monahan of Metro's Homocide Unit said the Asmamaw case is still active and has not been shelved.

"It's one of those cases that has lingers," he said.

While the Asmamaw case is still assigned to a detective, he said that the police have exhausted all leads and no new information has come out of the case.

"There is nothing to pursue," he said.

Metro police are currently waiting for more leads to break, and hope that people involved in the killing or who have information with the killing will come forward.

The cab drivers assembled on Wednesday, however, urged that measures be in place that would aid police in investigating crimes against cab drivers, namely that "cabbicams" be mandatory for all cabs.

The idea, which has been pursued for several years, has the support of the Nevada Taxi Authority as well as the Industrial, Technical, Professional and Employees Union, one of two unions that represent cab drivers.

T. Ruthie Jones, vice president of the union, said her group supports the use of cameras in cabs because they could better protect the cab drivers than other safety measures, such as shields that separate the drivers from the passengers.

"A shield wouldn't accomplish what a video still camera would," she said.

The Nevada Taxi Authority also has a bill draft before the legislature looking at making the "cabbiecams" mandatory.

The strongest voice for the use of "cabbiecams," however, came from family members of drivers who had been killed while working.

David Chitprasart, 14, the son of slain Nellis Cab driver Pairoj Chitprasart, said that cameras would have been one more tool in investigations into crimes against cab drivers.

His father, Pairoj, was killed in August when James Scholl allegedly set fire to him during a robbery.

"He was a nice man and he was nice to everyone," Chitprasart said.

Lule Yirga, 38, the cousin of Asmamaw who also drives a cab, said cameras could help deter crimes in cabs because it could prevent further violent crimes against cab drivers.

"Sure cameras in cabs would help," he said.

He is still upset over the killing of his cousin, who he described as a family man who worked hard to provide for his two children and wife.

It was Asmamaw's need for provide for his family that prompted him to resume driving a cab after a four-year hiatus, Yirga said. Two weeks after Asmamaw returned to cabbie work, he was killed, Yirga said.

Yirga said that he is slightly fearful of driving a taxi in the city after his cousin was strangled to death, but is determined not to allow the fear to control his life.

"You got to make a living. You can't hide," he said.