Juan Rubio-Castro
December 9, 2007
Atlanta, Georgia
WSBTV-2
Atlanta, GA
Cabbie Murdered in Clayton County
POSTED: 12:59 pm EST December 9, 2007
UPDATED: 6:37 pm EST December 9, 2007
RIVERDALE, Ga -- Clayton County police Sunday searched for clues in the murder of a local cab driver. But, investigators said they have few clues.
Police responded around 3a.m. Sunday to the parking lot of the Ashton at Garden Lake Apartments in Riverdale. There, they found Juan Rubio-Castro, 28, slumped over the wheel of his car. Police said he'd been shot once in the back of head. Police said they have no suspects.
Among those who rushed to scene was Rubio-Castro's father, who owns Tampico Cab, the company which employed his son.
Sunday's murder marked at least the fifth killing of an Atlanta-area cabbie in the last three months. In the most recent murder, DeKalb County cabbie Dane Grobman, 54, was shot to death in his cab back on Nov. 9.
Copyright 2007 by WSBTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Eleven-Alive.com
http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=107723&provider=top
Cab Driver Killed in Riverdale
Neighbors of a Riverdale apartment complex are waking up to a shocking discovery this morning.
A local cab driver was killed near the Garden Lake apartments off Lake Ridge Parkway. It happened around 4 o'clock Sunday morning.
According to family members, Juan Rubio Castro worked for the Tampico taxi service. His father, Job Rubio, can not understand why this has happened.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
December 09, 2007
Taxi driver found shot to death in Riverdale
By STEVE VISSER
Metro Atlanta taxi drivers expressed fear Sunday after hearing that one of their number was found shot to death in his cab earlier in the day — at least the fourth cabbie slain locally since September.
"I'm scared," Kali Jallow said as he waited for customers outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Atlanta. "I try and screen people, but you can't tell who is dangerous. It could be anybody."
Clayton County police are seeking the killer of 27-year-old Juan Rubio-Castro. The driver for Tampico taxi was found dead in his cab shortly after 3 a.m. near the 800 building of the Ashlon at Lake Ridge Apartments in Riverdale, Clayton County police Capt. Gregory Dickens said.
Rubio-Castro had been shot in the back of the head, Dickens said. Investigators had no suspects Sunday afternoon.
Other metro Atlanta tax drivers murdered this year were:
• Dane Grobman, 54, shot to death Nov. 7 in his cab in DeKalb County.
• Steve Gurani, shot in his cab Sept. 9 in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward.
• Berhanu Yassin, killed in his cab Sept. 6 outside the Kensington MARTA station in DeKalb County.
At least 17 cabbies have been killed in metro Atlanta since 2000, according to Taxi-Library.org, a Web site that promotes cab-driver safety and tracks driver deaths through news articles. The site acknowledges this results in undercounts because not all the killings are reported by the media.
Criminals routinely target cabbies for robberies because they carry cash, work alone and can be directed to isolated areas. Taxi drivers are 60 times more likely than other workers to be murdered while on the job, according to a 2000 report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Jallow, a 31-year-old originally from Gambia, said taxi drivers could be penalized if they refused fares. Other drivers noted that even picking up fare at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport can be dangerous, because bandits could take a MARTA train to the airport and pose as new arrivals to the city.
"We never know who is sitting behind us," said Eshete Woldehewt, an Ethiopian immigrant, who was waiting for fares near the Hyatt downtown Sunday. "When we start work, we pray."
— Staff writer Michelle Shaw contributed to this report.
Clayton County police are investigating the incident. So far, no information regarding possible suspects or motives have been released.
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