'They have the right to be safe': Taxi drivers left shaken after woman smashed windshield

A widely shared video showing a woman jumping on top of a taxi cab and smashing through its front windshield has raised concerns for taxi drivers in Winnipeg who say violent incidents are becoming all too common for drivers in the city.

"Drivers, they are really frightened from this scenario," Gagandeep Brar, the general manager of Unicity Taxi in Winnipeg, told CTV News.

Brar said the incident happened on Sunday morning when a Unicity driver picked up some people who had requested a trip to the Tim Hortons on Maryland Street.

He said while the passengers were ordering in the drive-thru, a woman came up to the cab and tried to jump inside. When the driver and the passengers asked her to leave, Brar said she stood in front of the taxi, blocking its exit and then climbed up on top of it.

"This frightened the driver, the driver left the car," Brar said. "She just kicked very hard on the windshield and broke the windshield."

Brar said that is when the driver started recording what was happening.

The video – since shared across social media – shows the woman jumping and dancing on the roof of the taxi. She then is seen stomping through the windshield and climbing inside, where Brar said she ripped equipment from the dashboard of the taxi.

Brar said the driver was able to reach inside and turn off the car – cutting his fingers in the process.

Const. Claude Chancy, a public information officer with Winnipeg police, confirmed officers got a call about a woman causing damage to property. He told CTV News when officers arrived, the woman was found sitting inside the taxi with some upper-body injuries.

She was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries.

Chancy said the attack on the taxi was unprovoked and caused more than $5,000 in damage. He said the 18-year-old woman is facing a charge of mischief over $5,000.

Brar said the incident has left the taxi operator shaken.

"He has been driving for us since many, many years. He has been a very good driver," Brar said. "He's not driving since that day. This scenario has really scared him."

Brar told CTV News in the days since the incident, dozens of Unicity Taxi drivers have reached out with safety concerns.

"This is their workplace, they are driving providing an essential service 12 hours a day during a shift," he said. "The thing is, if their workplace is not safe, they are not fully confident about being a taxi driver in the city."

He said there have been more cases of violent incidents reported among his drivers – whether it is passengers refusing to pay or threatening the drivers.

He pointed to the 2020 killing of 44-year-old Balvir Toor who was fatally stabbed 17 times in his cab in the North End. A 23-year-old man, Okoth Obeing, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years.

Brar said taxi drivers are worried these kinds of attacks will become more common.

"They are the local business owners," Brar said. "They have the right to be safe at their workplace."