Dane Grobman
November 9, 2007
DeKalb County, Georgia
Cab driver shooting is 4th attack on cabbies in 3 months
Man found slumped in his white minivan at Clarkston apartment complex
By MIKE MORRIS
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/09/07
DeKalb County police Friday were investigating the early-morning shooting death of a taxi driver at a Clarkston apartment complex.
Officers responding to a 12:40 a.m. call about an accident at the Alden Ridge apartments on Post Oak Drive off Brockett Road found a white minivan from Decatur's Best Taxi Service against a fence at the rear of the complex, DeKalb police spokesman Marcus Hodge said.
The cabbie was slumped over the steering wheel of the taxi with an apparent gunshot wound, Hodge said. He died at the scene.
Detectives were checking with the cab company to try to determine whether the driver, whose name has not been released, was at the complex to pick up a fare or drop off a passenger.
Hodge said a motive for the shooting was not yet known.
The shooting was at least the fourth attack on a metro cab driver in the past three months.
Steve Guarini, a driver for Lenox Cab, was shot and killed Sept. 9 at Glen Iris Drive and Ralph McGill Boulevard in Atlanta's Fourth Ward.
In Cobb County,a Victory Cab driver was beaten and stuffed into the trunk of his cab when he tried to resist two robbers in Smyrna on Sept. 3. The following night, a driver for Gold Star Taxi was held at gunpoint and his cash and phone stolen in Marietta.
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11Alive.com
Atlanta
Cabbie Murder Angers Colleagues
Police found the slain cab driver after responding to the report of an accident.
Web Editor: Paul Crawley
Last Modified: 11/9/2007 2:29:56 PM
Fellow cab drivers reacted with anger Friday morning after learning a fellow cabbie was lured to an apartment complex, shot and killed.
"It's not worth making $20 or $30 'cause he just lost a family and he wanted out and he got killed before he could get out," an angry taxi driver David Otwell said after finding out a friend and fellow cabbie had been murdered.
The victim, Dane Grobman, 52, had been robbed in the past and was trying to get out of the business, his friends said. They also questioned whether their job is worth the risk.
"For the amount of money we make and the danger we put ourselves in, I think all cabs should have cameras put in their cabs and we should all have to have plexiglass in the back and we shouldn't be responsible for paying for it because we're all putting our lives at risk," Otwell said.
Otwell was one of nearly two dozen drivers for Decatur's Best Taxi Service who quickly converged on the murder scene near Clarkston overnight. Grobman was apparently lured to the Alden Ridge Apartments on Post Oak Drive off Brockett Road around 2 a.m.
DeKalb County Police first got a call that a taxi van had wrecked into a wrought iron fence at the rear of the complex. When they arrived they found the driver slumped over the steering wheel, shot to death.
Police spokesman Officer Marcus Hodge told 11Alive News they are canvassing the complex looking for witnesses and checking the cab company's records for the call, but have no suspects so far.
Police confirmed that Grobman was married and had a teenage son and teenage daughter.
"He was a great fellow, really down to earth, really calm," said fellow cabbie Chris Armstrong. "He had been talking about not even working this area because it was getting to be so bad and it makes us question whether we need to be even driving a cab anywhere."
Cabbie Otwell also complained about the area and their increasingly dangerous work. "I've been robbed twice," he said, "I've been robbed at gunpoint and the gun went off, but it missed my head and it's just over $10...it's not worth it."
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11Alive.com
Jailed Man Charged in Cabbie Killing
Photo: Daterial James
Web Editor: Tracey Christensen
Last Modified: 11/13/2007 12:32:24 PM
Police in DeKalb County found their suspect in the case of a cabbie's murder already in jail.
After issuing murder warrants for Daterial James, 25, officers found him sitting in jail on unrelated charges. James is now charged with the killing of Dane Grobmen, 54.
Police said Grobmen was lured to the Alden Ridge Apartments on Post Oak Drive last Friday to pick up a fare. Instead, he was ambushed, robbed, and shot to death.
Grobmen, who was married with two teenage children, worked for Decatur's Best Taxi van.
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