Attack on taxi driver in Nea Ionia: 35-year-old bites and cuts off her ear
The 35-year-old passenger threatened the driver with death and attacked a 54-year-old taxi driver, removing part of her ear. The woman describes to Newsit.gr how she escaped.
Terror inside taxi in Nea Ionia — passenger bites and cuts off driver's ear
"Today is your last day. I will kill you": these were the words the 35-year-old passenger said to a 54-year-old taxi driver in Nea Ionia, shortly before grabbing her by the throat and beginning to bite her ear with relentless force. According to Newsit.gr, the woman spoke in detail about what she experienced that night, describing a journey that turned into a fight for survival.
The trigger: signal problem with POS terminal
The journey began from Kipseli with a destination of Nea Ionia. When they arrived at the passenger's house, the 35-year-old asked to pay by card, but the POS terminal had no signal at that specific location. "For fifteen minutes we were trying to get a signal," says the 54-year-old.
The driver suggested they move to find coverage, complete the payment and return him to his house at no extra charge. The passenger agreed. The POS worked at another location, the payment was made and the driver turned the car back towards the direction of his house.
The escalation inside the taxi
On the return journey, the 54-year-old remarked to the passenger that, since she knew the signal was weak in the area, it would be useful for him to have cash with him. The 35-year-old struck the interior partition with his finger, pointing to the marking that requires taxis to have POS. "I am not obliged to have cash," he told her.
The driver explained that the POS existed but the problem was signal coverage — "it is a matter of service, not obligation." The passenger began hitting the window with increasingly greater force. Fearing he would break it, the driver immobilised the taxi. At that moment the 35-year-old threatened her explicitly with death and grabbed her by the throat, pressing her into the seat.
"I hear a 'crack' and my ear is cut off"
"He put his mouth on my ear. He bit me steadily, incessantly, continuously," the woman describes to Newsit.gr. With her free hand she was honking the horn, she had opened the car door and had put her leg out to make visible to passers-by what was happening. Motorbikes passed and moved away without stopping.
To breathe, she grabbed the attacker's nose with her fingers. He eased the pressure on her throat, but did not release her ear. "With that pressure — him biting me, me pulling — I hear a 'crack' and my ear is cut off by his teeth," she says. The release came through injury: "He was holding me and I could not get out of the taxi. I managed to get out."
The chase on the street
Video footage released by Newsit.gr shows the woman running out of the taxi and the 35-year-old chasing her frantically around the car. "I fall on the street, I shout for help, he cut off my ear — and at that moment he gets out of the car to finish what he wanted to do, to kill me," she states.
The events unfolded around 1 a.m. "If I had not managed to get out, if my ear had not been cut off, he would have strangled me," she concludes.
The 35-year-old was eventually immobilised by a passer-by, who also spoke to Newsit.gr and described that "blood was dripping from his mouth."
Appeal to the Ministry of Transport
Through her account, the 54-year-old driver appeals to the Ministry of Transport to take measures for the safety of taxi drivers, so they can work without being in danger.
Source: Newsit.gr