There will be a candlelight vigil tonight for 37-year-old Roberto Pita -- a livery cab driver who was shot and killed during an overnight pickup.
"We are just like family and when it happen to one of us, everyone feels that," said fellow driver Adan Muniz.
Pita was a driver for 17 years but recently started working for Premium Bronx Car Service on Tremont Avenue to make extra money. He often worked overtime to send money to his wife and two young boys back home in his native Ecuador.
That's what fellow drivers say he was doing when he answered a pickup call on Washington Avenue just after midnight. The motive may have been robbery, according to police. The 20-year-old passenger pulled a gun and shot Pita several times in the head. The Lincoln Town car lost control and plowed into PS 306 on West 177th and Davidson Avenue in the Morris Heights Section of the Bronx. Police took the unidentified suspect into custody at the scene. He is being treated for face and hip injuries from the crash at Barnabas Hospital.
Reports of assaults and robberies on livery drivers have been on the rise in the past few months, a Taxi Federation source. Company officials said livery cabs are supposed to have a camera or partition to ward off any threats but its not clear if Pita had either. Fellow drivers understand the danger of their jobs, especially in tough economic times.
"Everyday we go out to try and make a living to put food on the table for our families and we go out and we don't know if we'll come back. It's a very dangerous job," Muniz said.
"I know him, he's a good guy; he supports his family," said Premium Bronx Dispatcher Alex Corona. "He worked hard everyday."
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A Taxi Federation source said livery drivers often don't have life insurance and he wants to work with officials to change that policy.
Pita rented a room on Garfield Street where he lives with another family from Ecuador. They said that Pita hoped to get immigration papers for his family so they could be reunited here in the United States. But now all plans are off. Pita's wife, Jessica, is headed to New York to plan for his funeral.
A firearm was recovered from the scene of the killing. Charges are pending against the 20-year-old suspect.
