An elderly gunman shot a yellow taxi driver nearly 50 years his junior during a heated broad-daylight Monday clash over the fare in the Bronx, authorities said.
Joseph Meeks, 76, got into an argument with the 27-year-old cabbie over the fare just outside of the senior living facility where he lives on Nelson Avenue near West 169th Street in Highbridge around 4:30 p.m., police said.
During the feud, the irate septuagenarian pulled the driver out of the car and blasted him in the stomach, police said.
The cabbie — who sources say was just licensed by the TLC in March — was taken by responding EMS workers to Lincoln Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition by Tuesday morning, police said.
Meanwhile, the armed senior returned home, evading arrest for about three-and-a-half hours, police said.
Meeks was finally arrested by the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit around 8 p.m. and charged with attempted murder, cops said.
His arraignment was pending Tuesday afternoon.
David Do, commissioner of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, decried the violence in a statement Tuesday.
“This young man sadly has had to fight for his life because of a senseless and totally unacceptable act of violence,” Do said. “We are thankful that he’s in stable condition and reaching out to him to offer support. We also applaud the NYPD officers who rapidly apprehended the suspect.”
