Taxicab Driver Cited for Reckless Driving in Downtown Stillwater

A taxicab driver was cited for reckless driving last weekend after he allegedly sped away from a group of people in downtown Stillwater—inadvertently dragging a woman who was caught in the door about 30 feet down Water Street.

Stillwater Police were stationed on Water Street early Sunday morning watching a large crowd—more than 150 people—leaving Brine’s and the Freight House at bar close.

The officer noticed a Hill Valley Taxi, driven by a 60-year-old Oak Park Heights man, approach a large group of people, the police report states. The officer then heard a revving engine and people starting to yell as the cab drove away "at a high rate of speed.”

That’s when the officer saw a 24-year-old Eagan woman, who was apparently caught in the rear door of the taxicab, getting dragged by the vehicle about 20-30 feet down Water Street.

The woman eventually freed herself from the vehicle, and came to a stop on Water Street, the report states, as the taxicab continued traveling southbound for a short distance.

The woman told police she had no immediate or serious injuries, but was “very upset and nearly hysterical over what had happened.”

She told police she was trying to hail a taxi for a group of friends to go back to the Super 8 Motel. The taxi driver allegedly told her he had a fare and shut the door.

The woman told police the door shut in such a way that it caught her engagement ring, jamming her left ring finger in the door. She was transported from the scene by Lakeview EMS with a swollen finger, and cuts and abrasions on her knees and ankles.

The driver told police he was trying to get through the area to pick up a fare at Rafters, when someone opened his rear door and tried to get in. The driver said he reached through his window and shut the door.

The driver told police he did not know the woman’s hand was trapped in the rear door upon “speeding off,” the report states. When police questioned the driver about speeding off from a group of people, he allegedly responded: Those people down there are “just animals.”

The driver was cited for reckless driving, and told to go home and “cease any additional work" for the night.