CHAMBLEE, Ga. — Chamblee police say they have a man in custody suspected of robbing a taxi driver at gunpoint.
Chamblee investigators arrested Hilario Vaquera Tuesday night. They say he robbed a taxi driver in early January.
Now, police in DeKalb County are investigating whether he's responsible for several other robberies we first told you about back in September, involving Hispanic women who drive cabs.
Channel 2 Action News obtained video of a DeKalb County SWAT team and Chamblee police taking Vaquera into custody at an apartment complex on Valley Bluff Drive.
Police say Vaquera was wanted for armed robbery, gang activity and aggravated assault with a firearm.
"I was so afraid," said Jose Martinez who is the taxi driver Chamblee police say Vaquera robbed on Jan. 6.
Martinez says he got a call to pick someone up at an apartment in Doraville. When he got there three men approached.
Martinez was suspicious and says he tried to lock his doors. But he says Vaquero was too quick and got in through the back door and pointed a gun at his head.
"He was behind me with the gun saying, 'What else do you have?'" Martinez told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri.
Martinez says Vaquera took $200 in cash, his cellphones, GPS and ripped out the glove box.
A police source says pictures from Vaquera's Facebook page show him holding a handgun.
In September Channel 2 Action News told you about a string of robberies of women who drive taxis in DeKalb County.
Surveillance video shows the suspect running away after one of the robberies. DeKalb police say they're now looking at whether Vaquera is linked to those crimes.
The message for the Hispanic community, Martinez says, is always report crimes to police. To criminals, he says the police will find you.
Martinez says this is the second time he has been robbed in the past two years and he is thankful the people behind the robbery are now in custody.
WSBTV
