Arrested taxi driver had 85 violations on record

A taxi driver who was arrested after locking a tourist inside his vehicle has been found to have 85 violations on record for various taxi infractions.

The driver is a local man, surnamed Ng, aged 26 years old who has been driving a taxi for two years.

The victim is a 28 years old female tourist from Taiwan. The incident occurred on Monday when the victim took the suspect’s taxi from the Cotai border crossing towards a hotel located in Cotai.

At the destination, the taxi meter indicated that the fare should be MOP19.

However, the driver told the victim that because he had been waiting at the border crossing for a long time, the passenger would have to pay MOP100.

The passenger refused. Ng then refused to open the door in order to let her out.

The victim, while remaining inside the taxi, shouted in Mandarin to a nearby local hotel employee for help.

However, the employee was unable to help because they could not communicate through the closed window.

The driver then drove the car approximately 50 meters away from the hotel, still keeping the passenger trapped inside the vehicle.

Eventually, the victim decided to pay the driver 50 patacas, after which he allowed her to leave.

The victim only reported the case to the Public Security Police Force (PSP) on Tuesday morning.

The driver admitted that he locked the passenger because he was not paid the fare he had asked. While he denied having imprisoned the passenger, he admitted that he knew the passenger could not open the door.

According to a police record, the detained driver has incurred in 85 taxi violations between 2016 and the current day, including overcharging and refusal to take passengers.