Man Punched Cabbie, Refused To Pay: Deputies

LAND O’ LAKES, FL — A 24-year-old Land O’ Lakes man faces criminal charges after Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies say he called for a taxi on Fowler Avenue in Tampa, accepted a ride to Foggy Ridge Parkway in Lutz and then refused to pay the driver. Not only is the man accused of stiffing the cabbie, deputies say he punched the man for his troubles, as well.

The incident that led to Jeremy Montalvo’s Jan. 5 arrest began to unfold before 9 a.m. when deputies say he called a cab company to pick him up at the corner of Fowler and Nebraska avenues. Once at a destination in the 1900 block of Foggy Ridge Parkway, deputies say Montalvo told the cabbie he needed to go inside a business to get money to pay the fare.

Montalvo returned, an arrest report stated, but informed the driver he didn’t have the cash.

Witnesses say a verbal dispute between the driver and Montalvo erupted. During that dispute, Montalvo is accused of punching the cabbie in the face, cutting his lip. The cab driver was also hit in the back of the head, the report noted.

After the physical scuffle, Montalvo took off on foot. Deputies were able to catch up with him, but he fled again, the arrest report said. Deputies, it seems, ran a little faster. Montalvo was caught and ultimately charged with theft of services, battery and resisting arrest without violence.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office