By Fay Simmons

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian businesses yesterday called for a greater police presence in commercial areas ahead of the upcoming season after a visitor suffered “minor injuries” in a dispute with a taxi driver.

The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) made the call after a 30-second video, seemingly taken from a nearby security camera, captured the Sunday afternoon altercation between the driver and his passengers. It took place in the middle of Bay Street at just after 3pm on November 3, 2024, before a mixed crowd of tourists and locals.

The driver is seen apparently attempting to flee, and get away from, two female passengers who are pursuing him after all get out of the taxi. Both women seem to trip, and fall down in the middle of Bay Street just where the road straightens out after going around the British Colonial, with bags and cell phones scattered in the street.

The driver jumps through an open window to get back in the taxi and drives off as one of the women attempts to hang on to the moving vehicle. She is eventually forced to release her grip and falls in the road for a second time, giving up the pursuit and returning to retrieve her belongings with the help of several onlookers.

Reacting to the video, which was widely circulated on social media, the BCCEC urged the police to increase its presence in tourist and busy commercial areas to ensure The Bahamas does not suffer an “economic fall-out” due to incidents involving visitors.

“The BCCEC has watched with deep concern the video depicting an apparent brazen daytime robbery in downtown Nassau, and calls on the police to increase patrols in all commercial areas to protect members of the public, visitors and businesses, especially as we approach the busy shopping and tourist season,” it added.

“Instances like these are particularly concerning as everyday Bahamians, the business community and tourists are exposed. To arrest this issue, the Government needs to prioritise security and minimise the economic fall-out for the country if incidents against tourists persist.

“BCCEC welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with the Government through tourism and law enforcement by providing business mapping for heavily-saturated areas and filtering the direct concerns from our members/the business community relative to lighting, patrols, vagrants, blind spots and other aspects that can impede the safety of the shopping public.”

The Royal Bahamas Police Force, however, said the video did not depict a robbery but, rather, a “fare dispute” between the taxi driver and his passengers. And Wesley Ferguson, president of the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union (BTCU), while confirming to Tribune Business that the man in the footage is a taxi driver argued that he - rather than the two women - was the actual victim in the incident.

Mr Ferguson explained that the taxi driver had completed his tour with the two cruise ship passengers when an argument erupted over where they should be dropped-off to return to the vessel docked in Nassau Cruise Port. He said the duo requested he drop them off at a specific location and, when he told them he was unable to do so at that location, they attacked him.

Mr Ferguson defended the driver’s actions as “self-defence” and said he had to get away from the passengers to prevent them or himself from being injured. “He had to get away. When it comes to defending yourself, I don’t care who it is; whether it’s a tourist, a police officer or a priest, you have to defend yourself. Self-preservation is the point,” the union chief said.

He added that police officers were “dismissive” of the taxi driver’s complaints and chose not to file charges against the cruise passengers in relation to the incident. “The police was dismissive to him. They were disregarding what he had to say,” said Mr Ferguson.

“There were no charges pressed against them, but the police never took any statements from eye witnesses because there were some people who were there and went to the station, and they basically kind of shrugged it off.”

The Royal Bahamas Police Force, in a statement, said: “The police wish to inform the public that they are aware of a video circulating on various social media platforms claiming that an armed robbery occurred within the city of Nassau.

“Police wish to advise that the incident, which occurred around 2.30 pm on Sunday, November 3, 2024, was not an armed robbery but a fare dispute between a taxi driver and a passenger, which resulted in the passenger being put out of the taxi.”

The statement said the passenger received “minor injuries” and was given medical treatment, while the taxi driver was taken into custody and is assisting with the investigation.