He’s hell on wheels.
An Algerian immigrant NYC cabbie driving with no partition or a digital camera allegedly assaulted two ladies behind his yellow taxi in separate incidents — and remains to be on the highway, due to soft-on-crime Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg, in response to sources and courtroom paperwork.
Mohammed Bellebia, 34, was allowed to plead responsible to lesser expenses in at the very least one of many incidents, information confirmed.
One sufferer, Maile Bartow, 23, climbed into Bellebia’s yellow cab minivan round 2 a.m. on Nov. 10, 2024 to move house after an evening in town with associates, and stated the hack touched her leg twice, ignoring her pleas for him to cease earlier than groping her genitals, in response to a lawsuit.
Bartow, who had all the time dreamed of dwelling in Gotham and moved to the town in August after a stint in Nashville, left the Massive Apple for good due to her NYC nightmare.
A couple of month later, on Dec. 12, 2024, Bellebia picked up a 2 a.m. fare, allegedly touching that girl’s leg all through the experience and making an attempt to take away the 33-year-old sufferer’s underwear, a legislation enforcement supply informed The Submit.
He was arrested Dec. 19, 2024 and charged in each instances
“Oh my God,” Bartow gasped when she discovered of the opposite alleged sufferer from The Submit.
In Bartow’s case, Bellebia was dealing with misdemeanor expenses of forcible touching and sexual abuse and will have confronted a sentence from probation to a 12 months in jail.
As an alternative, he pleaded responsible in March to disorderly conduct, a mere violation, and was let out on a conditional discharge — which means he was get no jail time so long as he stayed out of hassle, information confirmed.
Bartow stated Bragg’s workplace left her at midnight concerning the slap on the wrist.
The prosecutor “by no means informed me that he pled responsible to a lesser cost,” Bartow stated. “The one motive I used to be even knowledgeable was as a result of I reached out thrice — two of these weren’t returned.
“He’s again on the highway driving the very same taxi cab,” a disgusted Bartow stated. “I wasn’t looped in in any respect. They didn’t ask me what I used to be OK with.”
Bartow encountered Bellebia round 2 am outdoors The Spaniard bar on West 4th Road, the place he was parked in his yellow minivan cab ready for a fare.
The California native had been dwelling on the Decrease East Aspect and dealing as a social media advertising and marketing specialist. She was solely a 10-minute drive from her residence, so she stated goodbye to her buddies and hopped within the cab.
“There was a line out the door …and it was actually actually chilly. I simply keep in mind being drained,” she recalled. “I noticed this taxi cab parked and I stated ya know what, this was my signal to go away.”
Bellebia handed her his telephone and informed her to place within the handle of her vacation spot.
“The very first thing I observed was there was no partition blocking me from the driving force,” she stated. “He was up to now again, was so near me, I used to be nearly sitting within the center.”
As they drove off, Bellebia started talking in a language Bartow didn’t perceive — apparently chatting with the individual he was video calling, a TLC violation — and one thing modified, she claimed.
“He begins speaking to me, asking me all these questions. The place are you going, what’s your identify, what do you do for work. I used to be making an attempt to be courteous.
“Sooner or later he reaches behind and places his hand on my leg. I moved it off and stated please cease.”
However Bellebia didn’t, she stated.
“He does it once more and begins placing his hand in my vaginal space,” she alleged, recalling how she froze earlier than making an attempt to take a photograph together with her telephone so she would have proof of what was occurring.
The driving force, alerted by the digital camera’s flash, snatched the machine, in response to courtroom papers. Bartow stated he started making an attempt to delete her images.
“It escalated actually rapidly.”
He finally returned her telephone, and Bartow tried texting and calling associates for assist.
“I made a decision to go away a voicemail so it will report it,” she stated. “I left a voicemail, it’s mainly me asking repeatedly, [saying] ‘I don’t have an image of you please simply take me house.’ I used to be beginning to get increasingly scared.
“I began to beg him, ‘Let me out!’” she recalled. “I didn’t wish to make him any extra mad than he was. I used to be so scared he was gonna kidnap or kill me.”
He pulled over on Division Road, a couple of minutes from her house, and let her out. She provided to pay for the experience, however when she didn’t have money, Bartow stated the driving force sped off.
“That’s after I knew he did one thing fallacious. My finest buddy was on the telephone with me, I needed to order a Lyft to get house. At that time I used to be tremendous distraught,” she stated. “I texted my buddy the subsequent day as a result of I wished to go away New York, as a result of I used to be traumatized.”
The subsequent morning, she went to police, Bartow stated.
Bellebia was unaware of the Manhattan Supreme Court docket lawsuit Bartow filed in opposition to him and Tranquil Taxi. The corporate couldn’t be reached for remark.
“I completed the issue from a lady,” the Arabic-speaking hack from Bay Ridge informed The Submit, sharing paperwork from the legal case exhibiting it had been sealed. He then referred to as a buddy to translate, who rapidly declined additional touch upon his behalf.
The costs within the alleged Dec. 12, 2024 incident are unclear. The case has since been sealed.
“Why is that this an issue for you … my case is completed discuss to my lawyer,” Bellebia stated when reached for remark a second time, hanging up when requested if he was within the nation illegally.
The costs in Bartow’s case weren’t bail eligible, a Manhattan DA spokeswoman stated, including the driving force had no prior convictions.
“Survivors deserve clear communication by way of the course of a prosecution, and we have now reached out to the survivor to apologize for falling in need of that on this case,” the spokeswoman added.
The DA’s workplace is legally barred from sharing details about the sealed December 2024 arrest, they famous.
The cabbie’s license was suspended and he was off the highway from December 2024 till March, when it was reinstated, in response to a supply.
Cabs are required to have both a partition or a digital camera system, however might be exempt if they’ve an in-vehicle digital camera, hassle lights or a mobile phone with emergency dialing, the town Taxi and Limousine Fee stated.
“TLC takes experiences of driver misconduct significantly, and all situations ought to be reported to NYPD and 311 instantly to make sure unhealthy actors could be taken off the highway – and guarantee it’s everlasting,” the spokesman stated, noting the company can not take motion by itself until the general public information complaints by way of 311.
The company had no report of a 311 criticism from Bartow, and stated a second individual complaining about Bellebia didn’t reply when TLC tried to contact them.
”The ordeal suffered by Ms. Bartow is each girl’s nightmare,” stated Bartow’s lawyer John Buza. “We’re pleased with her bravery in talking up and we are going to do every part inside our energy to get justice for her.”
Bartow moved to Nashville about six weeks after the incident, however stated she referred to as the DA’s workplace repeatedly for updates.
“In January that they had me signal a deposition. … I requested a number of instances if there was an replace. They by no means informed me something. Then they gave me the fallacious spelling of his final identify. I discovered in September he was conditionally discharged,” she claimed.
Bartow, who stated she’s been identified with publish traumatic stress dysfunction and suffers from flashbacks and evening terrors, is looking for unspecified damages beneath the state’s Gender Motivated Violence Act.
“That is already such a horrible course of for a sufferer,” she stated of the dearth of communication from Bragg’s workplace. “The very fact somebody did this … and he’s nonetheless driving a taxi is ridiculous.”
