St. Pete cabbies shot, attacked overnight

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ST. PETERSBURG -- Two cab drivers dispatched to pick up customers early this morning arrived to a surprise: guns aimed at their heads.

The first attack took place around 2:50 a.m., when driver William G. Kelly was sent to pick up a fare at 2535 Union St. S, police said.  Kelly, 53, told police a juvenile in a dark blue T-shirt approached the passenger side of his Independent Cab, pointed a black handgun through the open window and demanded money.

The cabbie hit the gas. The gunman squeezed the trigger.

Kelly was shot in the right collar bone and a bullet pierced his throat, said Independent Cab president Joe Rosa. Other night shift cabbies, listening to the ordeal over radio traffic, rushed to his aid and called for ambulances, Rosa said.

"We're hanging in there, trying to cope," Rosa said. "Why are you trying to kill him? He's got to go home."

Kelly was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in an ambulance. His condition was not immediately available.

Thirty minutes later and nearly four miles away, cab driver Michael Solt, 56, of Tampa was called to 1826 18th Ave. N, where he told police a juvenile in a black long-sleeve shirt approached the driver's side window and stuck a gun to his head.

Solt said he thwarted the attack by driving away and flagging a nearby unmarked police car.

In both cases, police said the attackers received no money.

"There are similarities between the two robbery attempts, but we don't know if they are connected," said police spokesman George Kajtsa.

Casey Cora, Times staff writer