NEW YORK — Ben Javanfar has been out of work for the past month.
A yellow cab driver in New York City for three decades, the 60-year-old was beaten on the job over a $14.35 cab fare.
“I said, ‘No, you have to pay,’” Javanfar recalled.
When the passenger ran, Javanfar said he tried to stop him. As he confronted the 39-year-old customer, he said things took a violent turn.
“We were arguing, punching and kicking,” he said. “I knew he was going for my face.”
Then, police say, Joan Navas Cardenas stomped on Javanfar’s right leg, severely fracturing it.
“I collapsed and screamed, ‘My legs! My legs! The pain is crazy!’” he said.
Witnesses stopped the attacker and held him at the corner of Ninth Avenue and West 22nd Street until police arrived.
“We’re really thankful for the New Yorkers who stepped in and held the assailant,” said Bhairavi Desai of the Taxi Workers Alliance. “Without them intervening, I don’t want to think about what would have happened to Ben.”
Skip needles with oral semaglutide! Take a 5-min health assessment to start losing weight.Learn More
Javanfar underwent surgery but doesn’t know if he’ll be able to drive again.
“It’s decimated his livelihood,” Desai said.
With his family in Iran, Javanfar is alone and has fallen behind on rent. When Desai visited him, she found he had no food.
“When they showed up with food, I said, ‘God, thank you,’” Javanfar said.
After a life-altering injury, the kindness of New Yorkers is carrying him through.
“I’m very lucky it’s in America,” he said. “If it was a foreign country, they would leave me in the street.”
The suspect is facing charges of robbery and assault. A judge released him on his own recognizance after he pleaded not guilty.
Cardenas could face a tougher penalty if convicted of assaulting a cab driver.
