Cab Driver Found Slain in Taxi Off Mulholland Drive

A cab driver who had been robbed and shot to death was found in a taxi that had been pushed to the edge of a canyon off Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles police said today. There were no suspects in the case.

Police found the victim’s body about midnight Thursday after a passer-by saw the taxi perched on a berm above a steep cliff about one-fourth of a mile west of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Detective Russ Kuster said.

The victim was a 25-year-old Iranian immigrant who purchased the taxi earlier this year and worked through the Independent Cab Co. of West Los Angeles, police said. His name was not released pending notification of his family.

The victim’s wallet was missing, but it was not known how much money was stolen, Kuster said. Police did not know what the driver was doing on Mulholland Drive and said he may not have been carrying a passenger at the time of the shooting.

Kuster said investigators theorized that the cab driver may have pulled off the road because of car trouble and then been approached by two or more people who offered help but then robbed and killed him.

After the shooting, the suspects apparently tried to push the cab off the road shoulder and into the canyon to delay its discovery.

Rigoberto Rico, a spokesman for Independent Cab, said the driver had not radioed the dispatch center.

Rico said the cab company also had no record of whether the driver had picked up a fare because the driver did not usually “play the radio,” choosing to pick up customers who flagged him down on the street.