Cabdriver Enio Tablas is awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulting two female passengers last year, but since he posted bail and was released from jail, the city recently gave him a permit to resume driving a taxi.
City officials who oversee metered cabs in Honolulu say they were powerless to deny the permit.
Taxi certificates
By the numbers:
2,480
Individual drivers
300+
Taxi companies, including companies with only one driver
451
Drivers with more than one valid certificate, including individuals who had more than one certificate for the same company
|
“If an accused is allowed to bond out pending trial, he or she has not been convicted of the crime,” said Sheri Kajiwara, director of the city’s Department of Customer Services. “Innocent until proven guilty.”
Since 2006 Tablas has been convicted of theft, driving with a suspended or revoked license due to DUI, failure to take a chemical test, and numerous traffic violations in California and Hawaii.
He is slated to stand trial in Circuit Court in Honolulu on charges of second-degree sexual assault on Nov. 16. But he passed the city’s taxi driver criminal background screening because it is limited to convictions that occurred in Hawaii over a two-year period.
Kajiwara, on behalf of a taxi industry task force, recommended to the Honolulu City Council in February that criminal background checks be extended to a 10-year nationwide database search. The task force also wanted cybercrimes and identity theft and fraud added to the list of convictions that can disqualify people from becoming cabdrivers. Currently the list includes murder, sex offenses, other violent crimes, theft, drug offenses, driving under the influence and some traffic violations.
No action has been taken on the recommendations, and the city has few other barriers preventing people from becoming cabdrivers. To get a taxi certificate in Honolulu, you need a valid Hawaii driver’s license, at least a year of driving experience and proof of commercial insurance. You have to pass written and oral exams and a physical, which does not include a drug test.
According to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser analysis of documents provided by the city, there are 2,480 taxi drivers working on Oahu. Although some taxi records are computerized, many are still maintained manually. That means officials cannot quickly gather, analyze and track information. The newspaper found that 451 taxi drivers had been issued multiple concurrent permits, although the city was unable to explain why.
“In researching information for the Star-Advertiser, this question was also raised by management, and it is currently being investigated,” Kajiwara told the newspaper. “Although some of the duplicates are for different taxicab companies, which is allowed, we want to ensure proper procedures are followed.”
If a taxi driver is convicted of a disqualifying offense, such as driving under the influence, the city has no way of knowing about it until the next time the permit is up for renewal and the background check is run by the Honolulu Police Department. The certificate is good for two years, so the driver could stay on the road for some time before facing revocation.
From 2010 through mid-2015 the city revoked certificates of 13 taxi drivers who were convicted of driving under the influence and four who were convicted of other criminal charges.
“That’s really surprising,” said Howard Higa, president and CEO of TheCab. “Internally we discipline way more drivers.”
Tablas was one of the drivers disciplined by the company.
Higa said TheCab hired Tablas because he had all the required city paperwork.
“We rely on the city checks,” he said, adding that the taxi industry supports more detailed background checks.
Higa said Tablas was fired in April 2014 after a passenger’s boyfriend complained the driver tried to touch and kiss her. He said he was not aware that other women had previously complained to police about the driver.
Court records show Tablas was charged with harassment for an incident in May 2013, when he was accused of waking a sleeping woman on a grassy area of Kalakaua Avenue at 5:45 a.m. The woman told police Tablas offered her a taxi ride, then pulled over near Kapahulu Avenue and touched her without her consent. The woman didn’t show up for trial, and the case was dismissed.
A 21-year-old woman told police she was walking alone at 1 a.m. March 29, 2014, along Nuuanu Avenue. She said she’d had a fight with her boyfriend after drinking, and Tablas approached in his red taxicab and offered her a free ride. She told police she passed out in the cab, and when she awoke Tablas was raping her. She said he told her to smile and took her picture before dropping her off near Ala Moana Center.
“I can’t even think about cabs anymore,” she said during an interview with police. “I guess the only thing I can really say that I thought is, though, he shouldn’t be a cabdriver.”
On July 5, 2014, a 21-year-old woman who had been drinking in Waikiki became separated from her friends. She later told police Tablas approached her in a red taxicab and offered her a free ride.
“I thought I could could trust a cabdriver,” she told police.
When she got into the cab, two Australian men were in the back seat, and they told Tablas to take her home first. However, she said Tablas insisted on dropping them off first. She told police she fell asleep, and when she awoke Tablas was guiding her down a path to a beach where he sexually assaulted her, according to court records. She said when Tablas dropped her off he told her, “Remember me — I’m the red cab.”
Tablas, who pleaded not guilty in both sexual assault cases, declined to comment for this story. However, his attorney, Harrison Kiehm, said regulations should not impinge on civil rights.
“Of course, we would say don’t use charges to prevent someone from being licensed as a taxi driver. When someone is charged those are mere allegations,” Kiehm said. “A charge is not an indication that a person is guilty.”
Kiehm said the city could have faced liability if officials had not given Tablas a certificate.
Tablas was hired by EcoCab, although General Manager David Jung said Tablas resigned Thursday after learning the Star-Advertiser inquired about his employment.
“He stated that he did not want to hurt the reputation of EcoCab,” Jung said in an email. “He was, during his employment with EcoCab, a very soft-spoken, highly competent and productive driver. Furthermore, during regular spot checks of the onboard security camera in our cabs, he was at all times highly professional towards even the most inebriated passengers.”
Jung said the company was not aware of the charges against Tablas when it hired him.
“We cannot inquire into a candidate’s arrest or criminal record at the time of hiring,” Jung said. “This is even more problematic for EcoCab since the state through its certification process determines whether or not a particular arrest or crime is sufficient to prevent the issuance of a certificate. In the case of Mr. Tablas, the state’s need to protect the riding public from sexual assault is clashing with its need to protect people with arrest and criminal records.”
In Kajiwara’s view the city’s revocation threshold is on par with most other industries, which don’t fire someone simply because of an arrest.
“Even with high-profile cases, when learning that an arrest has taken place, (we) cannot take action unless there is a conviction,” Kajiwara said. “As convictions are often contested, appealed or overturned, the process can be lengthy.”
Tablas’ former employer questioned why he received the certificate.
“I can’t believe that the city gave him back his taxi license,” Higa said. “But he won’t be driving for us, that’s for sure. We’ve got a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of thing. I don’t want him out on the streets. We let him go, period. End of story.”
