Killing of Cabby Heightens Fear Among City’s Drivers : Crime: A 50-year-old driver was found shot to death early Monday morning in East San Diego in an apparent robbery. Cabbies brace for more violence.

Local cab drivers worried Monday that the shooting death of a fellow cabby in an apparent robbery might signal the beginning of another violent season for their profession.

Jackson Jones, a Yellow Cab driver, was found at 12:43 a.m. Monday, shot twice in the head and slumped over the steering wheel of his cab on Colt Way in East San Diego, San Diego Police spokesman Bill Robinson said.

The 50-year-old cabby was pronounced dead at the scene, a medical examiner’s official said.

Police discovered Jones after someone flagged down a passing patrol car to report a driver slumped behind the wheel of a car, Robinson said.

Residents of the area, near Will Crawford High School, reported hearing gunshots a short time before the body was discovered, Robinson said.

Jones, a driver for eight months, may have been shot to death and robbed by a fare he picked up or was dropping off in the remote neighborhood, about one mile from the Collwood Boulevard apartment he shared with his wife, Robinson said.

Police have no suspects in the killing, Robinson said.

Local drivers are worried that Jones’ death might signal another series of assaults that periodically plague the cab-driving community.

“I am sure it will be another violent summer for cabbies,” said Fancy Limo driver Ray Farvour, 57. “As long as there are so many people out of jobs and out of money, someone is going to try to rob a cab, and I don’t feel safe driving.”

“I think this will always be a high-risk job because people know we carry money,” said 35-year-old Stephen Lane, a seven-year driver with American Cab. “If the drug users need a fix, the cab drivers are a perfect target.”

Drivers say little is being done to protect them against being robbed or killed by passengers.

Last year, two cab drivers were killed and 51 were robbed while on duty. In 1990, one driver was killed and 59 were robbed, police said.

Over the years, police, taxi companies operators and the Metropolitan Transit Development Board, which oversees cab companies, have tried a variety of safety measures to help drivers cut down on the dangers of the job.

But, so far, devices such as driver-operated blinkers atop a vehicle that signal police when there is danger, keeping cash at a minimum and radios designed to keep a driver in constant contact with dispatch operators, have been only mildly effective, say taxi drivers.

“I have put the (blinkers) on three or four times when I felt I was in danger, and police have never pulled me over, even though they are told that they are supposed to do this,” Lane said. “A while ago they were talking about (drivers) having a direct line to the police and putting up partitions, but (cab company owners said) that this was too expensive. I don’t feel safe with just those lights up there.”

Police say they meet with taxi drivers once a month to discuss how drivers can try to protect themselves against criminals who see drivers as easy targets.

“The basic idea is to keep cash to a minimum, to be careful where you pick up and deliver customers and to work out a way of constantly communicating your situation,” Robinson said. “Right now, violence against drivers is not an everyday thing, but if drivers feel like meeting with us more often, they can, depending upon the situation.”

Officials at the Metropolitan Transit Development Board could not be reached for comment.

However, drivers say it is their own common sense that will keep them from becoming a victim.

“A driver has to make a decision to not drive into high-crime areas or pick up someone who looks like they are on a drug run.” Farvour said. “I don’t care if it is a $100 fare, you can’t spend that money if you are dead.”