Taxi driver killed in Queens

Taxi driver killed

Police officers found taxi driver Kutin Gyimah unconscious and lying on a road in Queens. EMS brought him to St. John's Hospital, where he died.

NEW YORK - The NYPD is investigating the killing of a taxi driver in Queens.

The driver, Kutin Gyimah, 52, brought five passengers to a destination along Beach 54th Street in the Rockaways on Saturday morning, police said. The passengers refused to pay and tried to rob the driver, New York City police said, based on their investigation.

When Gyimah chased the passengers, one or more of them hit him, police said. Gyimah fell to the ground, hit his head, and lost consciousness.

Police officers found Gyimah lying in the street. EMS brought him to St. John's Hospital, where he died, the NYPD said.

"He was a good man. He was my backbone," Abigail Gyimah, his widow, said on Sunday. "I am lost right now."

The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers is offering a $15,000 reward in connection with this case, according to spokesperson Fernando Mateo.

"I am angry because this could be avoided," Mateo, who ran for mayor last year, said at a press conference. "We have to look around us and ask what kind of city are we living in."