A 34-year-old Burnaby man faces potential robbery charges in connection with a carjacking in eastside Vancouver that ended with a taxi bursting into flames.
At about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, a Black Top Cab was stopped at East Hastings and Carrall streets when police say a man jumped into the taxi and forced the driver from the van.
The driver was hit multiple times, according to police, but sustained only minor injuries.
The suspect then sped off southbound on Carrall Street.
Vancouver police got a call minutes later about a taxi being driven at high speed in the area of Prior Street and the East Georgia Viaduct. They then got another call about a collision between a taxi and another vehicle at the intersection of Clark Drive and Venables Street.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found the taxi in flames and a citizen holding a man on the ground.
Investigators determined the man being held had exited the taxi and attempted to carjack another vehicle that had stopped for a red light westbound on Venables Street at Clark Drive.
The driver of that vehicle, a 40-year-old North Vancouver woman, was extremely shaken up but not injured during the ordeal, according to police.
A 34-year-old Burnaby man remains in police custody and faces robbery charges.
