Five plead guilrty in Antigua taxi dispute

[nrdsb4]

Whether the taxi driver was trying to rip them off or not. They choose to do an excursion on their own and not one with Carnival. So any one doing independent excursions take the risk of something happening. Whether it does or not you take that chance. As for the rip off of the tour, $50 as the tourist say or $50 each way as the taxi driver said. The extra $50 divided by the six people is less than $8.34 per-person. Let's see, $8.34 and my freedom and being able to get back on the ship, or argue and go to jail. I don't have to think about that one very long, I'll simply pay the $8.34 and get to go home.

 

There actually 11 people involved originally, so the amount was even less.

 

I'm sure they regret the whole incident.

[halos]

 

Maybe the people did break the law but I don't think they intended to go brawl with police officers. Guilty or not guilty we shouldn't be going to Antigua if this is how law enforement acts.

 

I would hope that wasn't their intention, but I tell you this; police most anywhere else are not like they are here so we should all then just stay HOME?????

 

I think the best advice isn't 'avoid Antigua', the best advice would be to avoid trouble. Paying what's absolutely a FAIR price for a cab ride is avoiding trouble. Some folks are acting as if this guy asked the group for their wallets. When anyone gets transportation at any of port on any island for $50 round trip back and forth for six people from that port to any beach...come and let me know.

[Nunu]

If they bought the jewelry at some of the "preferred shopping sights" they very well might be inflated.:D

 

Dude that's what I'm sayin'!

[bplazo]

We were in San Juan on one of our cruises and the cab driver overcharged us $20.00 for the three of us. I just went ahead and paid it and left it as a lesson learned and left less of a tip.

[bplazo]

This is not funny.

 

I thought it was.

[tuff2]

Not sure why some are calling them hoodlums and such. We were not there and do not know how it all went down.

But I've heard reports of cab drivers saying one thing and then at the end refusing to take them back until they pay a way higher price. If this is the case the cab driver was ripping them off.

Did they act appropriately? No they acted childish and stupid, pay the cab and take your lumps for not sticking with a reputable cabbie or tourguide. But calling them hoodlums and judging them before you know all the facts.............well you just don't know and people should not assume.

JMO, Carole

Looks to me like the cabbie quoted a price of $50.00 for a one way trip and the wanted return fare of $50.00. Thus the $100.00 dispute.

[G'ma]

Yes, they were on trial for assaulting, etc. but it was the dispute with the cab fare :eek: that put them into there journey in to the unknown (Twightlight Zone theme playing). :)

 

Yep, and I'll bet they'll never do that again, whaddya think?:eek:

[G'ma]

A slight correction is needed in your statement. it seams that not all of them that were on trial committed a crime. One of them had the charges dropped.

 

 

 

 

The fact is that many people get arrested for crimes they did not commit. sometimes people get arrested on bogus charges. This happened to my son when he was 14 years old. The good thing was when the charges went to the DA's office they were dismissed. As teh DA told me they were dismissed because there is no case they have nothing except a cop who is out of control.

 

This happened in Davis, California

 

The fact is, 5 of these people pled guilty....as charged.

[G'ma]

Agree to disagree. My opinion only. It was the dispute of cab fare that put them at that location. No, it was thier REFUSAL to pay the cabfare that got them taken to the slammer....if they had paid the cabbie, none of this would have occurred.

 

Taken from there version link posted above. What transpired after that is what they pay the price for.

 

If, when they arrived at the police station, they had explained their position in an adult and mature manner, things could have turned out very differently.

 

They chose to square off and exchange blows with the cops.....really, really bad move.

[G'ma]

I have never been arrested or convicted of any crimes. I am on the side of the cruisers and may have done the same thing. Look at the facts.

 

1 - The "brawl" did not occur over the cab fare.

The taxi driver took the passengers to a place they were unfamiliar with without their knowledge. In the US this could be classified as KIDNAPPING. Police stations in the US are not gated. There were no signs, only one uniformed officers, you have your wife to protect, what would you think?

 

2 - They tried jumping out of a cab when they were not near the cruise.

Unless you thought you were in danger, why would you try an escape a cab no where near the cruise ship. They wouldnt do this to try and ditch a fare. We are taught in the US that if you are kidnapped and in a car to jump out even if the car is moving. It may be the only chance to get away. These people probably thought once they entered these unknown gates, they may not come out.

 

3 - Almost all officers in the initial incident appear to not be in uniform

A few things going on here. Officers were not in uniform, building was not marked, officer appeared to be the first to assault cruiser, police excessivly abused cruisers both during altercation and in jail. If officers did this in the US they would be fired. The department would also probably be paying a settlement to the cruisers. The cruisers were fighting for their lives and police made no attempt to explain the situation. If this was done in the beginning, the whole altercation could have been avoided. One officer even had bite marks. We are not animals, we do not bite people. The person who bit the officer obviously thought that their life was in danger and was doing anything to escape.

 

 

I am glad Carnival will no longer go to this port. It is not safe if this is how taxi drivers and police act towards tourism. This taxi driver and police cost the country hundreds of thousands of dollars by losing Carnival probably forever. I hope these people get the justice they deserve. They haven't been able to see their families, work, etc for almost a month.

 

I couldn't disagree more.......

 

There is NO reason for that type of behavior..... They should have paid the cabbie.....

 

It is upon each of our individual heads to accept responsibility for our own actions.....and these folks started the whole thing by arguing over 50.00 with a cab driver..... Then, inspite of uniformed officers being present, began throwing punches and fighting like street thugs.

 

It is THEIR fault...it is THEIR behavior that resulted in them being arrested and put on trial.

 

Not the police, not the cabbie, not the island of Antigua.

[zqvol]

Exactly! Must be a hoodlum themself to even post that comment.:mad: Nothing has been said about the cabbie price gouging, which is why this mess happened in the first place. But one thing is sure, Carnival is dropping this port effective Janaury and swapping it with St. Maarten. Thank goodness!

 

 

This mess happened because the tourists did not have enough sense to avoid fighting with police over a petty matter. Don't blame the people of Antigua because of stupid spoiled Americans.

[G'ma]

I'm going to say this and then I'll leave this subject alone because I can go on all day...

 

Did they react badly? Probably. Were the police 100% correct in their actions? Probably not.

 

Either way, we'll NEVER know the whole story so to call these kids hoodlums and believe the police, in any country, can do no wrong is just poor judgement, period.

 

KIDS????

 

They are all in their mid to late 20's; that's not "kid" age......

 

And, they are hoodlums....and if they'd squared off with a police officer in any city or town in our country, they'd be in for some serious jail time.

[G'ma]

Are you kidding me?

 

I deal with the police and thier treatment of citizens almost every weekend. Thanks to what I have seen I am not sure what my reactions would have been, but get Andy and Barney off your mind because reality is far different.

 

This past weekend a lady mid 50ish hit a deer down by the river. The deer was badly injured but still alive. The lady called the sheriff's dept who sent out a deputy. The deputy shot the deer, but if did not die, except now it was making crying noises. The lady asked the deputy to shoot it angain to kill it. The duputy said, "It will die" while the deer is still crying and trying to get up. At that time the lady's son in law drives up with his gun.He saw what was going on and ask if the deputy was going to finish the deer off. The lady was crying. The deputy said no, it would die pretty soon. The deer is now in the road still crying and trying to get up so the sil says he will just finish him off and went to get his gun. When he came back with it, he found the lady in handcuffs being put under arrest for interferring with a deputy. He was told to put the gun back in his truch and he was then arrested also for the same thing. Backup showed up, shot the deer, dragged it out of the road and took the two people to jail. Gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing those thugs are out protecting me, how about you?

 

In this case, the trial has brought out testimony from those who were there and witnessed the incident and 5 of this hoodlums have pled guilty.

 

I rest my case...no pun intended.

[G'ma]

Hey Schultz,

 

If the people were 40+ would they be credible to listen to?

 

So the cab driver is telling the truth? What is his side of the story?

 

What would force a human being to bite someone? Thugs don't do that, people fighting for their life do.

 

What if these people were not taking to a police station but to some place with real thugs and the woman were raped or people were robbed or killed? I will take a month and jail and a fine over risking the lives of my wife or friends.

 

Maybe the people did break the law but I don't think they intended to go brawl with police officers. Guilty or not guilty we shouldn't be going to Antigua if this is how law enforement acts.

 

Well, ya better stay home then. Thuggish behavior and assaulting police officers isn't acceptable anywhere, in any country, in any town or city in the U.S.......

[afcj1]

I agree. It actually happened to me three years ago, IN ANTIGUA with a cab driver named John Baptist. Just because we were smart enough to pay the extra money after being told one price, doesn't mean we were happy about it or that it was right, it just means we knew we couldn't win that particular battle..... and there was no alcohol involved either! :cool:

 

We were at a beach about 3 miles away and needed to find a taxi to get us back to the ship. A cab driver had just dropped two people off and we asked him how much to get back to the boat. Somehow after we got there, $14.00 turned into $40.00, and we WERE going to pay it!

 

Jenny,

 

Yes, because you and your traveling partner(s) were acting like responsible, mature adults in another country. Did you get ripped off...sure and maybe the Brooklyn folks did too. Hopefully, as we age, we mature and should learn to pick our battles.

 

This isn't to say that this group didn't run into some corrupt opportunists, but geez keep it in your own backyard.

 

This sure did play out to their disadvantage. These folks really were IDIOTS.

 

Annette

[Kurbanfan]

I agree. It actually happened to me three years ago, IN ANTIGUA with a cab driver named John Baptist. Just because we were smart enough to pay the extra money after being told one price, doesn't mean we were happy about it or that it was right, it just means we knew we couldn't win that particular battle..... and there was no alcohol involved either! :cool:

 

We were at a beach about 3 miles away and needed to find a taxi to get us back to the ship. A cab driver had just dropped two people off and we asked him how much to get back to the boat. Somehow after we got there, $14.00 turned into $40.00, and we WERE going to pay it!

 

Yep our experience with several locals in Antigua lead me to believe that the cabbie did try to rip them off.......sooo that being said this whole incident would have never happened if not for that cabbie........they would have never landed at the police station.......

Hopefully things will be different now on how they treat tourists and themselves for that matter after this........

[oncruisecontrol]

I agree and pleading guilty maybe the only way to end this thing with any speed. It has already been a month and I am sure they have jobs and families to get home too. The plea is part of taking your lumps and getting on with your life. None of us were there and the truth usually in somewhere in the middle of the versions of the story.

 

 

I wonder if they do still have jobs?

[oncruisecontrol]

The fact is' date=' 5 of these people pled guilty....as charged.[/quote']

 

 

Just because someone pleads guilty doesn't mean they ARE guilty. Look at all the people in the United States who plea-bargain to a lesser charge to avoid a trial that would result in a lengthly sentence should they lose. Some of those people are innocent, but because they don't want to gamble with the rest of their life, they may settle for the certainty of a short sentence. There are far too many innocent people in jail in the United States. By the same token, some who plead 'not guilty' are guilty as sin.

[Little]

I wonder if they do still have jobs?

 

I don't know of many jobs that will hold your spot for a month.

[DocJohnB]

We were in San Juan on one of our cruises and the cab driver overcharged us $20.00 for the three of us. I just went ahead and paid it and left it as a lesson learned and left less of a tip.

 

Brenda,

 

I have to ask.

 

Did you tip him/her anything at all. If you did, why?

 

I absolutely think as you and others do . . . no sense making a scene. However if a cabbie feels like stiffing me as you were, (s)he doesn't get a tip.

[DocJohnB]

What would force a human being to bite someone? Thugs don't do that, people fighting for their life do.

 

If you truly think that, I would suggest you volunteer at an emergency room near you for awhile. You would be surprised what thugs, hooligans, drunks, hoodlums, mentally deranged and just angry people do. Biting is amongst some of the better things they do to others.

[bplazo]

Brenda,

 

I have to ask.

 

Did you tip him/her anything at all. If you did, why?

 

I absolutely think as you and others do . . . no sense making a scene. However if a cabbie feels like stiffing me as you were, (s)he doesn't get a tip.

 

I have been a server for more years than I can count and I will not stiff anyone. So I just felt that the extra that he charged was going to be part of his tip and then just gave a few dollars more.

[salty dingo]

What would force a human being to bite someone? Thugs don't do that, people fighting for their life do.

Ask Mike Tyson. Did he think Evander Holyfield was about to kill him? With boxing gloves on?

 

Yes, thugs bite people. Mike Tyson is proof.

[Kurbanfan]

I have been a server for more years than I can count and I will not stiff anyone. So I just felt that the extra that he charged was going to be part of his tip and then just gave a few dollars more.

 

Just when I thought I have heard everything:rolleyes:

[Nunu]

Just when I thought I have heard everything:rolleyes:

 

I'd have hoped for at least a kiss... :eek: