🚑 TLC Driver Stabbed By Passenger On FDR Drive
TLC driver Yadav K. Dhungel was stabbed by passenger on the FDR Drive during botched attempt to steal Tesla & cash. Driver said to be awaiting surgery, passenger in custody after jumping off overpass
A TLC driver, who was reported to have been working on the Lyft App in a Tesla Model Y, was stabbed multiple times by their own passenger in a botched robbery attempt on FDR Drive. The incident took place in the southbound lanes of the FDR Drive on approach to the Manhattan Bridge around 2:40 p.m. yesterday.
The NYPD said the passenger jumped out of the Tesla after it crashed and started running on the highway. The passenger then JUMPED nearly three stories off the FDR overpass, before being taken into custody.
"The driver was chasing, being stabbed, chasing the guy who stabbed him," witness Yuliya Birvrayer said. "And the guy who stabbed him, he jumped into another car and started to wrestle with another driver. So, him and scare him away a little bit and he just run on the highway and jumping down."
- ABC NY
FOX 5 New York reported that both the driver and passenger were being treated at the same intensive care unit (ICU) at Bellevue Hospital.
The TLC driver was identified as 36 year old Yadav K. Dhungel. News reports stated he needed surgery, but is (hopefully) expected to survive.
Based on publicly available information on NYC Open Data, Mr. Dhungel’s vehicle is a 2023 Tesla Model Y (T113235C). The FHV License (TLC Plate) is registered under his name (i.e., it’s not an FHV Corporation rental).
We flag this for two primary reasons:
1. To help the NYC TLC community quickly identify any friends or family members who can be contacted.
2. Mr. Dhungel may not have physical damage insurance, so it might be prohibitively expensive to fix his vehicle, whether he returns to being a TLC driver or needs the vehicle for personal use. The local news footage showed major physical damage to the front passenger side of his 2023 Tesla Model Y. We know money is not, and should not be, top of mind right now, but as Mr. Dhungel (hopefully) recovers he could find himself under major financial stress due to this situation.
The suspect was identified as Ismael English, 20. He is being charged with attempted murder, attempted robbery, reckless endangerment and four counts and criminal possession of a weapon.
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So happy that he/she was caught! Outrageous!
That's insane. I hope the drive will man's it out of this physically, mentally, and financially.