A livery cab driver and father of five is lucky to be alive after a gun-wielding passenger opened fire – grazing his face – in a terrifying stick-up in Brooklyn Monday, cops and sources said.
Cabbie Prince Ezenekwe, 54, was driving through the intersection of East 101st Street and Flatlands Avenue in Canarsie around 1:30 a.m. when he fought off a passenger attempting to rob him, according to authorities and sources.
The crazed rider got out of the car – but rather than leaving Ezenekwe alone, he flashed a gun and seethed, “I’m going to have to kill you and take what I want,” sources said.
He then opened fire, grazing Ezenekwe with a bullet in the face and nearly nicking a critical artery, sources said.
The courageous cabbie drove himself to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. The brazen gunman, meanwhile, remains at-large.
A husband and father of five, Ezenekwe could have met a far more tragic fate, as the round missed an artery by less than an inch, according to the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.
“Prince is a miracle driver,” said Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the federation. “This is not just a wake-up call—it’s a demand for justice.
“Our drivers risk their lives every night, and today, Prince nearly paid with his life.”
“Enough is enough,” added Steven Rivera, the federation’s president. “No taxi or livery driver should be hunted down like prey while simply doing their job. This is attempted murder.”
Rivera called on Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez to not show leniency on the suspect once he’s apprehended.
“These violent individuals do not deserve a second chance—they deserve jail time,” he said.
No information was immediately known about the gunman, who cops described as a male with a dark complexion, believed to be in his 20s.
Those convicted of assaulting Taxi and Limousine Commission drivers can face up to 25 years behind bars.
TLC Commissioner David Do called on anyone with information related to the attempted robbery to contact the NYPD and help make the “city a safer place.”
“The city’s for-hire drivers are out there day and night, getting us home safe,” Do said in a statement. “Predators who take advantage of their availability to commit crimes against them should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
