Police seek three in taxi shooting
An 18-year-old Aiken woman is in custody and three men are still being sought in connection to a shooting that occurred during a botched taxi robbery Thursday.
Taqueisha S. Keitt, 18, of Brentwood Place in Aiken, is charged with assault and battery with intent to kill and attempted armed robbery.
Aiken Public Safety detectives are still looking for three other suspects they said attempted to hold up the driver and then fired shots at the cab as it sped away.
Around 12:30 a.m., an Aiken Taxi driver received a phone call from a caller who wanted a pick up from Eustis Park, at the intersection of Edgefield Avenue and Church Street, said Detective Marty Sawyer.
The driver said he saw a group of four people waiting for him when he arrived. He had a front seat passenger with him who was riding with him that evening, police said.
Two of the suspects were wearing hooded sweatshirts, he said. The driver said the group directed him to stop in front of a house on Columbia Avenue, he let them get out of the car and then waited for his fare.
According to reports, after the suspects exited the vehicle, one of the men standing outside the vehicle, described as a black male with dreadlocks, pointed a revolver at the passenger in the front seat and said, "Let's have it boys."
The driver said he accelerated away from the gunman, and then heard two gun shots fired. The back window of the cab was shattered during the shooting, police said.
The driver could not tell police how many of the suspects were armed after he called for help.
Within minutes of the shooting, an officer spotted a person she thought was a black male walking nearby. The pedestrian was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. When the officer stopped to talk with the person, police learned it was an 18-year-old woman, Keitt. She was sweating profusely, police said. Keitt said she had been running because she heard gunshots, police said. The officer asked to search the woman and found a cellular phone. A search of the phone's call history showed several calls to and from a contact saved into the phone as "Big Carl." Police confirmed that the "Big Carl" number was the same number used to call for the taxi.
Keitt was arrested and taken to jail.
Detectives are still looking for the three others suspects who were in the taxi.
"We have identified some possible suspects and are following up with leads as them come in," Sawyer said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Aiken Public Safety at 642-7620 or call CrimeStoppers of the Midlands at (888) CRIME-SC. Callers will remain anonymous and will be eligible for a cash reward of between $50 and $1,000.
Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.