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Robbery of Shuttle Driver Related to Taxi Robberies?

WILKES-BARRE — Police in Wilkes-Barre are looking to find whoever robbed two cab drivers and a shuttle driver, all at gunpoint, all since Thanksgiving. Th...

WILKES-BARRE -- Police in Wilkes-Barre are looking to find whoever robbed two cab drivers and a shuttle driver, all at gunpoint, all since Thanksgiving.

The latest holdup happened just Tuesday morning.

A shuttle service based in Wilkes-Barre drove three men from New York City back to the Diamond City. When the driver arrived at their destination, police say he was robbed while two of the passengers held guns to his head.

Concerns are growing among taxi and shuttle drivers in Wilkes-Barre.

"You really don't know what's going to happen. You don't know who you're picking up," said one taxi driver who didn't want to be identified.

The driver, a single dad of a little girl, is stunned after learning of a robbery targeting a shuttle driver. It comes just days after two taxi drivers were robbed.

"You can't think about the next person being the guy with the gun or the next person being the guy who's going to put a knife in your side. I'm trying to make a living. I'm trying to pay for my child."

Police are trying to track down three men who were picked up in Manhattan by Jose Express, a shuttle service based in Wilkes-Barre. When the driver brought the men to their destination on Madison Street in Wilkes-Barre, they pulled out two guns and robbed him.

"I bought my house like 10 years ago thinking like this is a really safe neighborhood. I knew all my neighbors, but just like everything, it changes," said Jim Forgatch of Wilkes-Barre.

Police believe the robbery of the Jose Express van may be related to two other armed robberies that happened in Wilkes-Barre Thanksgiving Day, targeting taxi drivers. In all the incidents, the suspects were armed and wearing masks.

"Two of them took two handguns and put them on the head of the driver," said Jose Tejeda.

Tejeda owns Jose Express. His vehicles don't have security cameras, like Burgit's City Taxis do. Two of Burgit's drivers were robbed at gunpoint early on Thanksgiving Day.

One of those robberies happened on North Washington Street. The second happened on Madison street, where the driver was shot in the leg and where the Jose Express driver was robbed.

"I got scared because the driver could have been killed. That's not worth it. That's not fair," said Tejeda.

Wilkes-Barre police have not identified any suspects or made any arrests for the robberies.

The Burgit Taxi driver shot in the leg last week is now out of the hospital and recovering, but not at work.

Jose Express is now considering putting security cameras in its vehicles.

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