While Paul Cuthbertson drives a taxi for a living, he also serves as the eyes and ears of the community out of a sense of responsibility.
Cuthbertson joined dozens of people — police officers, fellow cabbies, family members and others — at the Denver Police Department headquarters Thursday to acknowledge and celebrate the success of a crime-fighting partnership between taxi drivers and police.
“Taxis on Patrol” debuted in Denver in January 2011 and immediately paid dividends when Metro Taxi cabbie Max DeBarros saw the driver of a pickup truck run down parking valet Jose Medina, 21, killing him.
The driver fled the scene, but DeBarros followed and took down the truck’s plate number, which he passed on to police. Additionally, a surveillance video of the fatal hit-and-run was released to the media, and the footage quickly lead investigators to the truck, parked in a Commerce City yard.
The driver of the truck, Norma Vera-Nolasco, 32, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was arrested as she sat on a plane at an Arizona airport, moments before it took off for Mexico. She was sentenced in September to 12 years in prison. Without the program, Vera-Nolasco may have escaped, boosters said.
On Thursday, the taxi and police partnership announced the formation of the “Medina Alert,” a public notification system specific to serious hit-and-run incidents. The system is designed to utilize highway billboards, police and taxi radio transmissions, and other communication avenues, including the media, to get out information as quickly as possible. The Medina alert will be issued for a 48-hour period, or until there’s an arrest. After the 48-hour alert, the investigation will be ongoing through typical channels.
“This is about community safety and quality of life,” said Larry Stevenson, a spokesman for Metro Taxi and the patrol program.
Since the Denver start-up, the taxis on patrol program has spread to more than 50 communities across the country, and it has also drawn interest from Australia and South Africa.
Locally, Cuthbertson has been recognized for his involvement in a domestic incident in Federal Heights involving an incoherent man who had a butcher knife. The man was taken into custody on a psychiatric hold.
Recently, Cuthbertson was returning from dropping off a fare in Fort Collins when he witnessed a horrific accident on I-25. He immediately summoned help, which arrived in seven minutes.
Cuthbertson said training through the program, which includes taking notes and watching for details to be a good witness, has been invaluable.
“We just look out for everybody,” Cuthbertson said. “If you look the other way, you are losing a little bit of your humanity.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
