The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-04-14
TAXI DRIVER IS
POLICE VICTIM
FOR KIND DEED
License Taken for Aid
to Dying Man
by a Worker Correspondent

Whlch the 1olloWlng cases are Iyplcdl'
1t will be noticed that in this instance,
the driver was victimized by the
police solely because of his efforts to
help fellow human who had been
mortally injured.
Picked Up Injured Man.
David Rosenfeld, a taxicab owner
and driver of 5110 Ninth Avenue,
Brooklyn, on Sunday morning, March
10, while driving thru And St., near
| 18th Avenue noticed an injured man
lying in the road. The street being
deserted at the time, he placed the
dying man in his cab himself and
rushed him to the Roosevelt Hospital
on W, 59th Street. On the way
Resented picked up an officer who
accompanied him to the hospital.
The victim of the accident made a
death-bed statement to the hospital
inferno to the effect that he had been
struck by a street-car. This state
ment was repeated to the policeman
and Rosenfeld. The man died five
hours later. The policeman went over
the ground where the injured man
was found and, after careful exam
nation of Rosenfeld's cab, found
everything in order. He told Rosen-
field he could go home.
False Testimony.
Two days after this occurrence,
Rosenfeld was asked by another Off
GER, named Hooks, who had been as
signed to investigate the case, to take
his taxicab to an address on w. 56th
st. A man came out, who it was later
revealed was street car motorman
and, barely glancing at Resented or
his taxicab, accused him of having
struck the deceased with his cab.
The street car company, evidently
sensing a possible law suit for
damages by the estate of the dead
man, tried to avoid the claim by
forcing the poor motorman to testify
falsely regardless of what might hap
pen to Rosenfeld who, after all, is
"only another taxicab driver"
However, upon calling at the in
terne's home he corroborated in front
of officer Hooks what the dying man
had said about being struck by a
street car
In spite of this evidence of Rosen-
fields innocence, officer Hooks, on
March %, four days after the acct
dent, hailed Resented before magis-
trate Glatzmeyer, who ordered him
held for homicide and set bail at
$1,000. Rosenfeld had to pay $40 of
his own money to furnish bond.
Take Hack Credentials.
At the same time his hacking Gre
dentials without which a hackman
cannot work were taken away. Notes
were due on the cab, insurance pre-
MUM was due, the landlord had to
be paid and Rosenfeld found himself
without money.
At the trial in the homicide court
before magistrate Macrery, on March
%, the motorman's testimony was
proved false. The inferno testified
to the truth. He also said that the
nature of the injuries indicated that
the deceased must have been struck
by sharp and heavy object and not
a vehicle as light as a taxicab.
Magistrate Macrery dismissed the
case against Resented.
A Hearing.
Thereupon Rosenfeld went to the
Hack Bureau, presided over by a
car in the person of Fourth Deputy
Police Commissioner Nelson A. Rutten-
berg. But even in the face of such
overwhelming evidence of his inro-
cence of any crime, Resented was told
that he would have to come back
for hearing on April Is. In other
words, unless his hack license is re-
stored sooner, Rosenfeld will have
been deprived of making a livelihood
from March % until April IS, period
Of % days.
Unorganized
On account of the disorganized state
, of the industry, there being no trade
! union among the drivers, police OBJ
preston of the drivers continues un-
: checked. Having none except petty
i politicians who demand their "bit" tc
: go to the front for them, taxi drivers
! often plead guilty to charges of which
they are innocent, realizing that if
they do otherwise it will 90 much
harder with them. Often the victims
of loan sharks, ETC., they have little
money with which to carry on a court
, fight.
Many workers who wish to remain
/ in the industry feel that there is only
one way to stop police persecution
and oppression and improve conditions
of work generally and that is to gel
together in strong trade union
Questions are often asked as to why
, the B o t h r h o d of Transfers,
Chauffeurs and Stablemen's Helpers,
regularly constituted branch of the
American Federation of Labor, does
J not conduct an organization drive.
: There isn't any doubt but that the
$4,000 taxicab drivers of New York
would welcome such an effort and
would ioin IN solid1v. esnecia1lv in