The union representing Regina taxi drivers has set up a GoFundMe page for a cab driver stabbed in a violent carjacking last week.
The cab was stolen in Regina on Friday morning. The 34-year-old driver suffered from life-threatening stab wounds.
The GoFundMe page has identified the driver as Muhammad Umar. According to the page, Umar is a father of four children under the age of 10.
The page organizers say Umar was slashed in the throat and stabbed multiple times in his side and stomach. He remains in hospital in serious condition.
“We’re not sure when he’ll be able to get back to work,” said Patrick Veinot, who is a staff representative for United Steel Workers, the union representing Regina cab drivers. “We started the GoFundMe to help the family through this struggle.”
Umar’s brother Wajid Ali is also a driver with Regina Cabs. He has taken time off work to help his brother’s family. He says he’s concerned about getting behind the wheel of his own cab again.
“You do have concerns, because I used to drive at night,” Ali said. “Night is a little more (risky), so in daytime when things like (this) happening, it definitely makes you a little worried.”
The stabbing happened around 8:15 a.m. on Friday morning in the 2900 block of Parliament Avenue.
RCMP have charged Tristan Pinder, 19, and Verena Petruka, 30, with possession of stolen property, flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, discharge of a firearm with intent and assaulting a police officer. Regina police say additional charges against the pair are pending.
The pair was arrested on Saturday morning after RCMP say they stole fuel from a gas station in Lashburn, Sask. Officers tracked the cab to Highway 16, where someone inside the vehicle pointed a gun at police. Police say officers then discharged a firearm at the vehicle.
The RCMP cruiser hit the cab and forced it into a ditch. Police say someone in the cab pointed a gun at the officers a second time and an officer discharged his firearm again.
The pair was arrested at the scene with the help of a police dog.
The incident is renewing concerns about in-car safety for cab drivers. In November 2016, Regina cab driver Iqbal Singh Sharma was violently attacked by patrons in his cab. He was stabbed three times, including once in the neck. Singh Sharma was hospitalized with serious injuries and spent several days in a coma.
Ali says although violent attacks against cab drivers are rare, he hopes there can be improvements to safety after his brother was stabbed.
