WILKES-BARRE -- Taxi drivers in Luzerne County reportedly tracked down a would-be robber and held him until police arrived.
It all started when the would-be robber apparently got upset with a taxi driver and smashed his windshield along Carey Avenue in Wilkes-Barre Wednesday night. That would-be robber then took off and the taxi followed.
A Burgit City Taxi cab sat outside the company's headquarters on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday. Its windows were smashed with a baseball bat the night before.
The taxi was involved in a chase that ended up in a crash that sent three people to the hospital.
Police say it all started from an earlier incident on Carey Avenue where a taxi driver got involved in a dispute with a man who tried to rob the taxi's passenger.
"He wanted to pull right out, and he wanted us to move, and our taxi driver was ignoring him, and he got upset and broke a windshield," said Rob Burgit, owner of Burgit City Taxi.
After knocking out the window of the taxi, the man took off. A taxi driver was able to follow and get video using a dashcam inside the vehicle.
Other cab drivers heard about the dispute and joined the chase. That led to a three-vehicle crash at the intersection of Blackman and South Main Streets in Wilkes-Barre. One of the vehicles involved was one of the taxis. Another vehicle had a family of four inside, including a toddler.
Burgit hopes that the dashcam video from his taxi helps police solve the case.
"The film is so helpful. Sometimes it's helpful to our drivers, sometimes it's helpful to our passengers. It's just a pleasure to have the film. It's come in handy time and time again," Burgit said.
Burgit tells Newswatch 16 his driver was not injured.
"The thing is it is not common, but it's never welcome, but you have to deal with it because you can't control the circumstances," Burgit said.
Wilkes-Barre police tell Newswatch 16 they are still investigating this crash. They have not released the names of anyone involved.