Parminder-pal Singh
March 21, 1992
San Francisco, California

Cabbie Slain - S.F. Cops Nab Suspect Driving Taxi

A 28-year-old man was being held last night in the Saturday night killing of a taxi driver and the theft of the cab in San Francisco, police said.

The suspect, Eugene Shambatuyev, who told police he immigrated from Russia two years ago, was arrested about 9:50 p.m. Saturday driving the stolen Yellow Cab at Geary Boulevard and Seventh Avenue, police said.

His arrest came five minutes after witnesses reported seeing a "highly agitated" man dressed in black pull a body from the cab and down a trail at Lake Street and Funston Avenue, said homicide Inspector Napoleon Hendrix.

When police stopped the cab, Shambatuyev's clothes were covered with blood and his pocket contained a semiautomatic pistol and two loaded clips, Hendrix said.

The murder of driver Parminder-pal Singh was solved within minutes thanks to the quick responses of alert residents on Funston Avenue. There followed an extensive police investigation into the motive for the crime. In brief, the driver was shot in the head from the rear seat by a stranger who was apparently acting out a Rambo-like tough-guy fantasy. Robbery of the driver was not the motive. The killer received a sentence of 29-years to life in prison.

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