RALEIGH - When Simon Nyaga drove his cab well over the speed limit with both blinkers on and his horn blaring downtown Friday afternoon, he wasn't prepping for a job in New York City.

He was helping police arrest a suspected small-time thief.

Even as the man threatened him, Nyaga locked him in the cab and held down his horn to attract the attention of police officers as he sped down East Martin Street.

"I helped the police to get him, but I lost my fare," Nyaga said with a sigh.

The suspect, Barrington Simon, 43, of 2924 Trassacks Drive hired Nyaga to take him on a couple of errands and then to the airport. Simon told him he had to visit his wife at a Kroger grocery store in Garner and then go to his office downtown before his flight.

A few minutes after entering the Kroger, Simon walked out with a bag of groceries and got into the cab. Nyaga said a female employee followed Simon out and demanded to see his receipt. Simon told Nyaga that the woman was his mother-in-law trying to stir up trouble — and to just drive.

"I realized at that time this guy was a thief," Nyaga said. "I knew I was going to lose my money, so I said, fine, I'm going to drive him downtown, and then I was hoping to see a police officer."

As they began to drive off, Simon told Nyaga he had a gun. Nyaga said he then dialed 911 on his cell phone without drawing Simon's attention, hoping police would hear the commotion and track his location.

Once he reached downtown, Nyaga locked the doors, put on his hazard lights and began blasting his horn to alert any nearby officers.

As the cab slowed at Martin and Wilmington streets, Simon tried to jump out, falling in a heap on the pavement and spilling his goods all over the road. While he tried to pick them up, three policemen on horseback who had seen Nyaga's cab approached.

Simon took off but was quickly apprehended. He was charged with misdemeanor larceny. Nyaga said police determined that he had been under the influence of illegal drugs at the time.

Dealing with criminals is not unprecedented for Nyaga. The Kenya native said he has been driving a cab for three years and has been robbed several times. But this time, he was the hero instead of the victim.

As Nyaga sat in police headquarters describing the events Friday afternoon, his meter slowly ticked up over $60.

Nyaga, of course, wouldn't see a dime of that sum. But that's not to say he didn't earn it. 

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