A Hamilton taxi driver is in hospital, his leg held together by pins and a steel rod after he was viciously beaten Tuesday night.

Anwar Sajad, 55, a six-year veteran of Hamilton Cab, was attacked by three passengers he'd picked up at a west Mountain grocery store. He was attacked after leaving the vehicle when his passengers said they needed to get money from their house.

"He is in a lot of pain now, the pain is just excruciating," said friend and fellow cabbie Asif Abbas. "All he was doing was trying to make a living."

According to the police report on the incident, Sjad picked up two men and a woman about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at a grocery store on the corner of Upper Paradise and Mohawk Road West and took them to a townhouse on Limeridge Road West. Once there "each claimed to have no money to pay for the cab. They asked that the driver accompany them to one of the units to receive payment. The driver agreed and once in front of the address was assaulted by the suspects."

But Abbas said that cold language barely describes as brutal attack in which the victim was first knocked to the ground.

"This guy was so brutal that he just lifted Anwar up from the ground and smashed him back onto the ground," he said. "Now he is in hospital with a broken hip and a steel rod in his thigh.

The police report said the suspects fled on foot after the assault and Sajad lay on the ground until a resident found him and called 9-1-1. He was taken to Hamilton General Hospital with injuries described as "serious but non-life-threatening."

Sajad is the latest in a string assaults on Hamilton cabbies. In April, a driver was slapped and punched by a passenger who accused him of taking the wrong route to a destination. In January, Halton police charged three people who allegedly attacked a Hamilton driver after having him take them to a Burlington townhouse complex. That driver suffered fractures to his face and arm.

Early last year a Hamilton man was sentenced to jail and probation for breaking a driver's nose in a dispute over a fare.

Abbas said headline incidents such as those are only the tip of the iceberg.

"A lot of the small, little assaults don't get reported," Abbas said. "Even the smaller physical assaults we just let go, but something happens every weekend."

Abbas said the most recent incident brings the debate about driver safety back into the spotlight — drivers have long argued for plastic shields between themselves and their fares while the city, which regulates the taxi industry, has mandated surveillance cameras in every car.

Sajad's car was equipped with a surveillance system but it would not have captured this assault because it happened outside the vehicle. It might have captured images of the passengers when they were inside the vehicle, but police say they do not have descriptions of the suspects "at this time."

"The cameras only record incidents anyway, they don't do anything to prevent attacks," said Abbas.

He added that while Sajad did break a cardinal safety rule by getting out of the car to settle a disputed fare, he can understand why that happened.

"We tell all the drivers never get out of the car, even if it means you lose $50 just let it go because nothing is more important than your safety," he said. "We tell them that, but I know how desperate the drivers are."

Abbas said in the past year many taxi drivers have been driven to despair by skyrocketing insurance rates that have hit as high as $20,000 a year for some. With the city refusing to increase meter rates to cover the soaring costs, many drivers are being pushed to bend the rules to make a living.

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"Some people are working 18 to 22 hours straight and they're so desperate to make money they're putting their safety, and the safety of their passengers, in jeopardy," he said. "This needs some attention."

The Tuesday assault is being investigated by detectives from the Mountain division. Anyone with information is asked to call 905-546-3873 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.