Taxi driver hurt in shooting
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A 52-year-old taxi driver was shot in the neck and critically wounded last night in the parking lot of a Pearl Ridge bank.
Police said the man was shot about 9:10 p.m. outside First Hawaiian Bank at 98-1071 Moanalua Road. Police last night were investigating whether the shooting was part of a robbery.
The cab driver was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in "extremely critical condition," but doctors were able to stabilize him, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city Department of Emergency Services.
Police issued an all-points bulletin for the cab driver's 2006 Honda van that was believed to have been stolen after the shooting. The van, which police said was registered to The Cab, was found about a half-hour after the shooting on H-3 Freeway near the Likelike off-ramp in Kane'ohe, police said.
No arrests had been made as of 10 p.m., police said. Police detectives were at the scene of the shooting late last night.
Last night's shooting was the second involving a taxi driver this month.
On July 6, taxi driver Manh Nguyen was shot in the back of the head and killed during an apparent robbery on Tantalus. Police believe Nguyen picked up a man in Waikiki and drove him to a lookout on Tantalus, where Nguyen was shot to death.
Two other people, Jason and Colleen Takamori, were at the lookout taking pictures when they were shot to death.
Adam Mau-Goffredo, 23, is charged with the triple murder and is being held without bail. An O'ahu grand jury earlier this month indicted Mau-Goffredo on 18 felony counts.
Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.