A 23-year-old New Bedford man was ordered held without bail Monday after investigators say he and another man tried to rob a cab driver last week, prompting the cabbie to shoot and kill his accomplice.
The cab driver said he shot Christopher Dunton, 24, of New Bedford, after he and Kyle Dawson tried to violently rob him at knifepoint in New Bedford early Friday morning, according to police.
Officers responding to a report of shots fired in the area of 20 Bentley St. about 1:12 a.m. found Dunton lying in the road next to a Yellow Cab with apparent gunshot wounds, according to a spokeswoman for Bristol District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III’s Office.
Dunton was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A preliminary investigation by New Bedford Police suggests the cab driver, who had a legal license to carry and whose name has not been released, picked up the two men at an address on Cottage Street and was driving them to another location when they tried to rob him by placing him in a choke hold and showing him a knife.
Dawson was arrested Friday around 12:30 p.m. after fleeing the scene, police said.
New Bedford police and troopers assigned to Quinn’s Office are investigating the cab driver’s use of force.
“The issue of self-defense is being investigated,” Quinn told 7News. “He was in possession of a firearm, legally, and he used that during the court of trying to defend himself.”
The cab driver has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
Dawson was held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Monday.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)