Woman accused of assaulting cab driver makes court appearance
A woman accused of assaulting a cab driver, stealing his car and then smashing it into other vehicles made a brief appearance in court Tuesday.
Erica Hagan’s attorney, Jeff Banks with the Clark County Public Defender’s Office, said he expected to have the case resolved or ready for a preliminary hearing next month.
Hagan, 42, faces eight felony charges including battery by strangulation, attempted murder, robbery and leaving the scene of an accident.
Authorities said she hopped into a cab at the Plaza Hotel on May 21 and Yohannes Tsegaye drove her toward Rancho Drive and Decatur Boulevard.
She threatened Tsegaye’s life, hit him in the head with a rock and stole his 15031, according to police.
Tsegaye told officers the woman tried to rip the cab meter and camera off of the dashboard and turned off the radio so he couldn’t call his dispatcher for help.
After Tsegaye escaped the cab, Hagan slipped into the driver’s seat and hit Tsegaye with the vehicle several times and pinned him against a chain-link fence, police said.
Tsegaye suffered a concussion, bruises and scrapes.
Hagan sped off in the cab, running a red light and crashed at Cheyenne Boulevard and Jones Avenue, according to a police report.
A witness stopped and Hagan pulled the man out of his car and drove away in it, police said.
Hagan was arrested 10 days later. She is slated to appear in court again July 17.
Contact reporter David Ferrara at 702-380-1039 or dferrara@reviewjournal.com. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker.
