Cab Driver Picks Up Death

By Shannon in News on Oct 7, 2006 3:20PM

Chicagoist has a complicated relationship with cab drivers. Battling with them in traffic or crossing the street, we're not too fond. But after a long night out, we literally put our life in their hands. That's why it's so sad to see a good cabbie's own life lost on account of his charges. The Tribune reports that Thursday morning, veteran cab driver Sonnie Wellington was shot to death shortly after picking up his last fare of the night.

Around 5 a.m., Wellington picked up three young men at his dispatch office in the 8000 block of South King Drive. According to ABC, the men looked like trouble right off the bat, and several drivers refused to take them on. The gregarious 63-year-old driver picked them up anyway. His cab was found by police a short time later, around 2200 East 95th. Wellington had crashed into a light pole and was dead behind the wheel, with a gunshot wound to the chest. Witnesses in the area said they heard guns going off, but could not provide any detailed description of the possible assailants.

Reports had nothing but good things to say about the gentleman. To us, he sounded like the typical shoot-the-shit cabbie that quickly becomes our friend when we've had a few too many. Plus, even though he'd been cabbing since 1970 and driving the night shift for years, this was his first and only problem. Based on that, we can't really blame him for picking up his would-be killers. We're just regretful that there's one less good cabbie on the streets.

Image courtesy of thelou137.