Martine Botallico thought it would be safer to get a cab than walk home from a late night off-campus party in the back neighborhoods by College Avenue. Botallico flagged down a taxi with her male friend, but the driver told her she could only get a ride if she came with him by herself.
“I was stupid and got in, and then he put his hand on my knee and started moving it up my leg,” Botallico, a junior at UMD, said. “I started crying so he let me out on the side of the road.”
Botallico is one of at least three students who said taxi drivers in College Park have assaulted or harassed them when they needed a ride this semester. Junior Olivia Gordon said instead of cash, a driver “asked her to pay in other ways,” while a cabby locked sophomore Kristen Foley in a cab until she gave him her phone number.
Though these reported taxi assaults are a large issue, the bigger problem may be that these victims did not notify the police of the incidents, and did not have enough information to make a viable case against any of the drivers.
“I couldn’t remember [the driver’s] name or cab company so it would have been pointless,” Gordon said.
Botallico said she did not notify authorities because she did not feel it was a “big enough deal to call the police.” Gordon also said she was not sure she would have a concrete case against the driver.
Despite these cases, both University of Maryland and Prince George’s County police said they have no knowledge of incidents like this, and none have recently been reported.
According to Lt. William Alexander of the Prince George’s County Police Department, the last recorded crime involving a taxi driver was several years ago. In fact, Sgt. Aaron Davis with university police said the taxi services have been helpful to authorities.
“Our agency has a good relationship with the taxi cab drivers in the area and they often come to pick up our arrestees or individuals who are unable to get home for one reason or another,” Davis said.
Some women expressed concerns that calling the police would only bring them more trouble if they were intoxicated and underage, but Davis said that should not keep a victim from notifying authorities.
“We would not ignore the fact that someone had been sexually assaulted just because they were underage and intoxicated,” Davis said. “We certainly would not sanction them at the expense of investigating their complaint.”
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