Crandall Jack Reed
November 16, 2007
Jacksonville, Florida
ABC-25, NBC-12
firstcoastnews.com
Jacksonville, Florida
11/16/2007
Police Identify Cab Driver Killed on Westside
By Ashley Coleman
First Coast News
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Investigators have no suspects in the murder of a cab driver on the Westside Friday morning.
Police found 51-year-old Crandall Jack Reed fatally wounded in his cab on South Edgewood Avenue. He died later at the hospital.
JSO Sergeant Rick Hike says dispatch got a call a little before 3:30 this morning about shots fired on South Edgewood Avenue. When police arrived, they found the cab driver in his taxi. Crews transported him to the hospital where he died.
Hike says there were two scenes a couple of blocks apart. He told First Coast News investigators believe the cab driver was shot in a parking lot behind the North Florida Council Boy Scouts of America building.
He says Reed was able to drive himself to a convenience store, Quick Trip Food Mart, near South Edgewood Avenue and Roselyn Street. That's where police found him.
David Melton worked with Reed at Yellow Cab for the past few years. He says cab drivers are like family and everyone is mourning this loss.
"Drivers take care of each other a lot out there so it's just something that's very sad."
If you saw or heard anything, police want to hear from you. You can make an anonymous call to our partner, First Coast Crimestoppers, at 1-866-845-TIPS. You could be eligible for a cash reward.
Edited by Angela Spears, Anchor-Reporter
© 2007 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The cab is towed from the crime scene
The Florida Times-Union
November 17, 2007
Cabbie dies of gunshot wounds
By Bridget Murphy,
The Times-Union
After suffering the force of what some Murray Hill residents said sounded like shotgun blasts, Jacksonville cabbie Crandall Jack Reed still wasn't ready to surrender his life.
Reed, 51, tried to drive away from trouble on Edgewood Avenue South after police said he was the victim of a robbery-turned-shooting early Friday.
From the parking lot of the Boy Scouts of America building at 521 Edgewood Ave. S. after the sun came up, it looked like his Yellow Cab gouged deep tire tracks across a vacant grassy lot.
Then it appeared as though his 2005 Mercury Sable crossed back into the four lanes of traffic before stalling near the driveway of Quick Trip Food Mart.
It was there police found him bleeding in his cab about 3:30 a.m. Authorities said Reed died after being taken to Shands Jacksonville.
Nearby resident Shirley Stringer, 58, said she didn't see anything, but the sounds of four explosions of gunfire had her "shaking all over."
"I heard one. Two," she said of the blasts. "Then a minute. Then two more."
So many officers swarmed the cab and were looking inside after help arrived that another neighbor who looked outside his home thought one of their own had gone down in the line of duty.
For those who could claim the man they called "Jake" as a peer, the day was a somber one, cab company spokesman Dave Melton said.
Melton said Reed had been working as a driver for at least four years and was raising his grandchildren. The man's family wasn't home Friday afternoon at the address authorities gave at a West Beaver Street mobile home park.
A Sheriff's Office report gave a description of a single gunman wearing a white T-shirt, dark pants and a ball cap. It also showed that there may have been a woman who witnessed what happened.
None of the businesses in the immediate block usually would have been open at that time, according to several workers who talked with the Times-Union.
None of them reported catching the crime on security video, but all the entrepreneurs said they try to look out for employees and customers because crimes aren't uncommon on the block.
Quick Trip Food Mart owner Shong Kim said some of his regular customers have become the victims of muggings, and some employees arm themselves at work.
"I'm sorry it happened," Kim's customer Charles Miller said Friday around lunchtime after buying his grand-nephew a treat in the store. "I used to drive a cab too."
Police are encouraging anyone with any tips about the crime to call First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-TIPS, where anonymous tips can lead to rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.
bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161
This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/111707/met_218349589.shtml.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Last modified 11/16/2007 - 3:42 pm
Originally created 111607
Cab driver gunned down on Westside
By The Times-Union
Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting of a taxi cab driver early Friday morning on the Westside.
sponsored links
Ads by Yahoo!
Investigators were called to the Quik Trip Food Mart at Edgewood Avenue South and Roselyn Street between 3 and 4 a.m.
Crandall Jack Reed, 51, of Jacksonville, was found shot in the driver's seat of a Yellow Cab in front of the convenience store, said police at the scene. Police said they think the man was first shot in a robbery attempt in the rear parking lot of the Boy Scouts of America building at 521 Edgewood Ave. S. and then somehow drove to the convenience store nearby. At least two shell casings were visible from the parking lot Friday morning.
Reed was taken to Shands Jacksonville hospital where he died. No arrests have been made.
The city is up to 133 homicides this year. Last year there were 126 at the same time, but two more occurred Nov. 17, 2006.
Adam Aasen
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
First Coast News
November 18, 2007
Wife of Slain Cab Driver Wants Justice
By Angela Williams
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- “There aint no more out there like him. He was the only gentleman I ever knew,’ says Terri Reed.
Terri Reed is talking about her husband, 51 year old Crandall Reed. He was known to many as Jack and to her as the love of her life. Early Friday morning his life was cut short.
“My life is destroyed. When they took my husband's life right there, they took me with him. I'm empty,’ says Terri Reed.
Reed drove for Yellow Cab. According to police while on duty, he was shot in his cab in the parking lot behind the Boyscout's building on Edgewood. Investigators say he managed to drive himself across the street to a convenience store where he was found by officers.
No suspects, no motive, just unanswered questions and a widow now left to grieve.
“Looking at where it started he tried to get away. He tried. He wasn't bothering nobody. He was just out making a living, an honest living,’ says Terri Reed.
After 12 years of marriage Terri reed says her world has changed in the blink of an eye. Now she says her eyes won´t close until his case is solved.
“You know what, this time it was my husband. Next time it could be yours. I don't want his death to go unnoticed. I want to know who did it and I can't rest until I do. I have to have peace too,’ says Terri Reed.
As of now police have no suspects in the case.
The Justice Coalition has set up savings account for the Reeds in order to help with burial expenses.
Donations can be made at any VyStar Credit Union under the name Crandall Reed.
The couple recently celebrated their anniversary on November 1st of this year.
Terri Reed says her husband was retired from the Navy.
If you have any information that can help police, call First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
This news digest is for informative purposes only. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings on this site are made available without profit for research and education.
[ Back to top ]