Limousine Inspector Taken for a Dangerous Ride in Illegal Limo

By San Francisco Limousine Specialist on July 11, 2011

A chauffer of an illegal limo in Brooklyn, New York gave a Limousine Commission inspector the ride of his life recently after getting caught in an illegal limo sting operation. Shortly after hailing an illegal fare, limo driver Abdourahamane Barry, 37, learned that his fare was actually an undercover inspector for New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. The inspector had just negotiated a $15 fare for a relatively short trip and climbed into the back of the limo when he announced the bust and told his driver he was going to get a ticket. Instead of accepting the fine, the chauffeur tried to speed away from the TLC inspector who had been standing with a group of other inspectors as part of their sting operation.

The ordeal began around 3:30 p.m. one recent afternoon. After the inspector announced who he was, the limo driver peeled away from the curb and began a high-speed reckless driving spree through busy Downtown Brooklyn.

“I thought I was gonna die,” said the TLC officer, who was shaken but only suffered a sprained ankle from the limo door closing on it when the chauffeur hit the gas. “What made it worse was that he was yelling at me ‘I’m gonna kill you! You are gonna die! You’re dead!’ He wanted to kill me for doing my job!”

Given the driver’s temperament, the high rate of speed and the busy city streets, the inspector is very lucky to escape the experience with only a sprained ankle. The limo was not so lucky. After the driver ran a red light, he lost control of his limo and hit three light poles and tried to drive the wrong way down a one-way street when he was cut off by a New York Police tow truck and pursuing TLC officers. The intrepid inspector vowed that this incident would not prevent him from participating in other illegal limo stings in the future.

“I do not fear this profession,” he said. “I’ll be back.”

We talk about illegal limousines quite a bit on this blog, as it remains a growing and potentially very serious problem for riders who often don’t know that they are riding in an illegal limo. For cities that host millions of travelers each year like San Francisco, the illegal limo problem is especially dangerous. In California, it is illegal for a limousine service to pick up a fare that does not have a contract. That is, the limo ride must be pre-arranged. If you need a clean, comfortable and luxurious San Francisco limo, please give us a call at 1-800-339-8936 ahead of time, and we’ll be happy to pick you up and drop you off wherever you’d like! Illegal limo drivers seldom carry insurance and other safeguards for their guests, and anyone getting into these limos, unwittingly or not, is taking a serious chance for many reasons. The next time you need a Bay Area limo ride, call NLS Limo. One more thing: Give us the privilege of transporting you in one of our limos, and there will be no sprained ankles. We promise!