Jose Rodriguez
July 17, 2007
Pawtucket, Rhode Island

The Pawtucket Times
(Pawtucket, Rhode Island)
July 18, 2007

Shot cabbie dies

By:Rochelle Lefebvre, Times Staff Writer

PAWTUCKET - Jose Rodriguez, 42, of Providence, died at Rhode Island 
Hospital Tuesday afternoon from injuries he sustained from a gunshot 
wound to the head Monday.

Rodriguez, a cab driver of Gonzalez Cab of Providence, was working 
early Monday afternoon when he was shot in the head by an unknown 
assailant.

Central Falls police were still releasing few details Tuesday night 
as to what occurred moments before the fatal shooting. Police Chief 
Joseph Moran said the department has been aggressively working on the 
case to find the suspect who murdered Rodriguez.

"It has now changed to a homicide investigation," said Moran.

A spokesperson for Rhode Island Hospital said Rodriguez died in the 
hospital at 1:51 p.m. Tuesday.

On Monday, at approximately 12:30 p.m., Rodriguez was in the area of 
Garfield and Summer streets when the cab he was driving crashed into 
a sidewalk on Fuller Avenue. Moran said Rodriquez was found slumped 
over the steeling wheel and bleeding.

Several witnesses reportedly ran over to help the victim before he 
was transported to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was listed in 
critical condition Monday night.

++++++++++++++++++

Cab drivers seek better protection after fatal shooting
AP
Posted: 2007-07-18  07:33:28
 
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The fatal shooting of a taxi  driver has 
prompted calls from cab companies for better protection for their
drivers.

Jose Rodriguez, 42, died Tuesday afternoon, one day after he was  shot 
in the head as he drove three men from Providence to Central  Falls.

Rodriguez's wife said the couple had been talking on the phone  when 
their call was suddenly disconnected. Other cab drivers said they heard 
the  manager of Rodriguez's taxi company call out his car number.

No arrests have been made, said Central Falls Police Chief Joseph Moran.

Evelyn  Gonzalez, the manager of Gonzalez Cab Inc. - where Rodriguez had 
worked since  2004 - said she wants Providence Mayor David Cicilline to 
help install  partitions in taxis to separate drivers from their 
passengers. Another taxi  company president agreed that partitions 
should be mandatory and said police need to be more responsive when 
drivers call for assistance.

"Our cab  drivers are vulnerable. There have been other assaults on 
them, but Providence  police have not followed up," Gonzalez said. 
"Maybe with this, people will take  action."

Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman said he wanted to meet  with taxi 
drivers so he could hear their concerns.

Information from: The  Providence Journal,  http://www.projo.com/

++++++++++++++++++++++

The Providence Journal
(Providence, Rhode Island)
July 20, 2007

Cabbies, police meet to discuss shooting

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, July 20, 2007
By Tatiana Pina
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE - Taxi drivers from three of the city's cab 
companies met with the Providence police chief yesterday at 
police headquarters to discuss the shooting death of Providence 
cab driver Jose Rodriguez and how they could work with the 
police to protect themselves on the job.

Rodriguez, a driver for Gonzalez Cab Inc., was shot Monday 
while driving three men from Providence to Central Falls. 
Central Falls police found him in his cab on Fuller Street in 
Central Falls. The 42-year-old father of two died the following 
day. No arrests have been made in the shooting.

About 18 people from the cab companies of Dominican Taxi, 
Gonzalez Cab and Big Daddy Taxi attended the meeting. Some 
of the cabbies complained to Police Chief Dean Esserman and 
his top brass about the police's slow response to their emergency 
calls. They also said that the 9-1-1 answering service could 
sometimes be a barrier with questions and not give their calls the 
importance they deserved.

Esserman had initiated the meeting by calling Evelyn Gonzalez, 
the manager of Gonzalez Cab Inc., and word spread among the 
cab drivers. He told the taxi drivers that they and the Police 
Department had to get to know each other.

Paul Desrosiers, the owner of Bid Daddy Taxi, said that 
sometimes it is the way that taxi drivers are treated that makes 
for a tough relationship with the police. He talked about a taxi 
driver whose passenger made a stop so that he could make a 
drug deal and the police arrested him when he returned to the 
cab and then searched the driver. "We are licensed by the city. 
We shouldn't be poked at, pulled out of the cab and searched," 
Desrosiers said.

"Maybe you are right," Esserman said to him.

"We see a lot. Maybe we could pass it on," Desrosiers said.

Esserman told the cab drivers that the three things that had 
worked best for cab drivers in New York were emergency lights 
that they can flash, a partition and a camera.

Desrosiers said he planned to install the flashing lights.

Gonzalez said afterward that two of her drivers had already 
installed partitions in the cabs, and that she would ask the others 
to install them also. The partitions cost about $280 to install, she 
said. Jose Rodriguez's fellow drivers were collecting money 
among themselves for the family and the company planned to 
also make a donation, Gonzalez said.

Esserman said he would put the Rodriguez family in touch with 
Family Service of Rhode Island, which works with the Police 
Department to provide crisis intervention for victims of crime and 
violence. "The Police Department will see how it can help the 
family," he said.

He said he would appoint a liaison for the cab drivers and asked 
for a volunteer from each company to meet with the police. "We 
will meet with the three cab companies immediately. Give us a 
chance," he said.

"This guy [Rodriguez] was a good man," taxi driver Freddy Mago 
said.

"One of our men was so traumatized he said he is not going to 
drive a taxi cab anymore. We talked every day since it 
happened. Emotionally he is not stable. He is full of fear," Mago 
said.

Esserman invited the drivers to use the counselors from Family 
Service the police work with.

Maj. Stephen Campbell said the meeting was fruitful not only 
because the police and the drivers got to talk, but afterward one 
of the drivers was able to identify the person who robbed her at 
gunpoint on Swan Street in April. He was already at the Adult 
Correctional Institutions for possession of a firearm, after his 
arrest in May, not far from where the robbery took place.

"One of our men was so traumatized he said he is not going to 
drive a taxi cab anymore."

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