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Another Pinellas Cabdriver Is Slain

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By STEVEN GIRARDI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2008

CLEARWATER - The assault on cabbies has moved into north Pinellas County, with another driver found shot to death Wednesday behind a Countryside area shopping plaza.

Jack Lagrand, 50, was found halfway out of the open driver's door of his Yellow Cab in a parking lot behind a plaza at 25716 U.S. 19 N., said Clearwater public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts.

Police said he was killed between 1 and 2 a.m. A plaza business owner found him about 7:30 a.m.

Lagrand, of 2296 Primrose Lane, is the third cabdriver killed this year in Pinellas County, with the previous slayings occurring in St. Petersburg.

Police said video cameras mounted at the back of the plaza have provided some evidence, but they would not release it. No motive was stated.

Lagrand's wife, Donna, was too distraught to talk Wednesday at her home. "I just can't," she said. "I'm sorry."

United Cab driver Damian Krumins heard about the shooting and brought flowers to the crime scene Wednesday morning. "Just wanted to come and pay respect," he said.

Krumins said he saw Lagrand about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday pulling into Countryside Mall, a few blocks away from the plaza.

"It's scary, man," he said. "All year long we've been hearing about cabdrivers dying here and there."

Krumins said his rule is to not work past midnight. "Bad things happen after midnight, but some guys, that's how they make their living," he said.

Yellow Cab driver John Bridge, 43, who stopped at the crime scene Wednesday morning, said it is exactly the thing cabdrivers fear. "Everybody talks about it."

This one shook him up, he said, holding out his trembling arm. "If I drank, I'd go have some whiskey," he said.

Bridge figured the passenger either told Lagrand to drop him off in the dark parking lot behind the shopping center or forced him to drive there. With little protection, he said, cabbies are vulnerable, especially at night. He knows another driver who recently was robbed in Tarpon Springs.

"It's easy crack money," Bridge said. "They see a cabdriver, and they see easy money."

In truth, he said, drivers never carry more than $150. "After that, they put it away," he said.

There is nothing to separate drivers from their backseat passengers, Bridge said. A partition wall would cost about $800, "and cabbies can't afford that," he said.

A call to Yellow Cab Co. was transferred to a woman who said the company would have no comment on the shooting.

The pair of deaths preceding Lagrand's has spread fear among drivers in St. Petersburg this year.

In May, Blue Star cabbie Cyril Obinka , 45, died after he was found shot in the abdomen on 26th Street South. In July, Yellow Cab driver Linda Faison, 39, was found dead near Azalea Middle School hours after she picked up a passenger at 5:40 a.m.

Nearly 20 other cabbies have been robbed in the city this year, prompting the St. Petersburg Police Department to meet with taxi company officials in July to establish a safety program. Police have not heard back from any of the companies since the meeting, department spokeswoman Midge Walsh said.

In Tampa, a 45-year-old driver was cut on the neck with a knife during a robbery attempt in July.

Roy Bliven, a telemarketing employee in a plaza next to where Lagrand was found dead, said he drove a cab when he moved here from Albany, N.Y., six years ago but would never do it again.

He had one fare order him from place to place only to learn he was making drug drops. That persuaded Bliven to get out.

"This could have been one of my buddies," Bliven, 65, said as he motioned to the dead driver. "For what? Twenty dollars? Thirty dollars? This is baloney."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Clearwater police at (727) 562-4422.

News Channel 8 Reporter Rod Challenger contributed to this report. Reporter Steven Girardi can be reached at (727) 451-2333 or sgirardi@tampatrib.com.

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