VietNamNet Bridge – The police of Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, on Wednesday arrested taxi driver Nguyen Van Tien, 37, a native of Hung Yen province, to investigate the act of robbery.

Driver Nguyen Van Tien at the police station.

On August 9, a Chinese tourist named Xiechao Yang reported that in the evening of August 8, it suddenly rained while he was walking in the old quarter of Hanoi.

A cab driver invited him to get in his vehicle. After about 2 km of distance, the driver claimed $600 of charges but Yang did not agree to pay. Immediately, the driver locked the door, threatened and robbed US$1,200, HK$400 and some Vietnamese cash.

The Chinese tourist could not remember the license plate of the taxi and the taxi brand. He said fearing of the driver’s attitude, he could not remember these details and immediately got out of the car when having opportunity.

More than 20 police officers of Hoan Kiem District and Hang Trong ward were sent to seek the driver and they finally found the car.

On August 10, five police officers went to Tien’s home in Hung Yen province but he was absent. They went to the home of Tien’s wife, also in Hung Yen, and found him there. The driver was arrested and escorted to Hanoi for investigation.

At the police station, Tien did not declare anything. After a day in custody, on August 11, Tien admitted to rob money from the Chinese tourist.

He confessed that he usually hired a cab to drive from 7pm to 7am of the next day. He often drove around the Hoan Kiem Lake to seek tourists. On August 8, Tien invited Xiechao Yang to get on his cab to go to a massage parlous. At first the Chinese tourist agreed to the proposal but later he changed his mind and wanted to return to the hotel.

The charges appearing on the meter is VND62,000 ($3) but Tien forced the passenger to pay $600. Yang gave him VND200,000 but Tien refused and threatened the passenger. After robbing the Chinese tourist, Tien returned the car and went home.

Tien said he had worked for 10 years as a xe om driver in the old quarter and began to hire a taxi to work at night for the last ten months.

"We are continuing to verify whether Tien committed any similar case or not," an investigator said.

More than a year ago, cab driver Pham Van Sam was sentenced 5 years in jail for taking VND6 million for a distance of nearly 10km and robbed an iPhone from a Singaporean tourist.

Xuan Lan