A taxi driver accused of making sexual advances on a teen in his cab has been pulled off the streets until authorities can investigate the allegations, officials said.
Under a new city code, Vallejo police immediately suspended the cab driver's permit, something they were unable to do under the old law.  http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_9861727

The accused cab driver allegedly picked up a 15-year-old girl near Magazine Street in Vallejo just before midnight Tuesday, the girl's mother said.

The girl had apparently snuck out of her Vallejo home to meet a boy she had met online at Starbucks and didn't realize the coffee shop was closed, the mother said.

The cab driver allegedly approached her and invited her to ride around with him in his cab, the mother added.

"She said at one point she complained of a headache and he offered her some pills. But she didn't take them because she has been told not to take medicine from anyone other than me or a doctor," the mother said.

The girl's mother, who called police when she found her daughter was missing about 5 a.m., said the cabbie kept her in the car until about 6:30 a.m. and drove around Vallejo, Benicia and Fairfield with her.

The girl told her mother the man made repeated inappropriate comments to her including asking her if she wanted to have sex with him, the mother said.

"This guy knew who my daughter was and if he thought she was a runaway, he could have called me, or taken her to the police department - anything other than ride around with her all night in his taxi," said the girl's mother.
She said her daughter claimed the cab driver also showed her knives he keeps with him and, although she wasn't hurt, came home scared and shook up by the incident.

Early Wednesday morning, the girl's mother was sifting through her daughter's computer with a Vallejo police officer to try and find out where she had gone when her daughter walked in the door, she said.

The cab driver, who is not being named because no arrest was made and no charges have been filed, declined to speak with the Times-Herald when contacted by phone Friday.

Vallejo Officer Michael Nichelini, who oversees the taxi regulation program within the traffic division, said under the new Vallejo municipal code passed in March, police have more authority to take a cabbie off the streets if they deem it necessary.

Vallejo cab drivers lease their cars from the taxi company, but the city is the regulatory agency that allows them to receive and keep their permit, Nichelini said.

"As soon as I heard about the allegations, I contacted the cab company and suspended (his) permit," Nichelini said. The case will be transferred to the Solano County District Attorney's office for further investigation, he said.

"Under the old code, we didn't have a system in place to monitor people after they received their permits," Nichelini said. "The new code gives us a lot more authority. Before they would have to have been convicted of a certain crime before we could do anything."

Johnny Giri, owner of Yellow Cab, said he is aware of the issue and the driver is not working while his permit has been put on hold. He said he is waiting for the investigation results before taking any action with the driver.

Under city law, the driver may not drive a taxi without a permit, which must be displayed in the car at all times, Nichelini said. If the accused driver is found innocent of his alleged improper behavior he can get his permit back, he said.

When overhauling the new system, Nichelini said there were about five people driving cabs in Vallejo who were registered sex offenders, parolees, or had suspended licenses, he said.

Cab drivers' backgrounds are a sensitive issue in Vallejo since the man convicted of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild in December 1999, was a former taxi driver with a lengthy criminal record.

"I am just so thankful nothing happened to her," the girl's mother said. "I hope parents will talk to their children about not trusting people they don't know."