A 16-year-old teen is in police custody after he shot and killed a northeastern Pennsylvania cab driver. The teenager, Aazis Richardson, shot his 47-year-old cab driver twice after the latter refused to heed the shortcut route that the teen wanted the cab driver to take. The frustrated teen believed he was being ripped off by the cab driver and fatally shot him.

Richardson was charged with the murder of the cab driver, Vincent Darbenzio, who was shot twice in the head. Police officials found the cab driver’s body inside his taxi, parked near the entrance of a housing complex at around 5 am, according to ABC News. His lifeless body was found by a co-worker who was trying to locate him after he failed to respond to the company phone calls. Vincent worked for McCarthy Cabs. According to The Times Tribune, before leaving the scene of the crime, the unrepentant teenager also stole $500 from the cab driver’s pockets.

In the criminal complaint filed by the police against the teen. It states:

“Richardson said he got upset because the cab driver was taking the long way and ripping him off.”

Richardson apparently told investigators that the driver did not heed his request to take a shorter route and kept on driving along a longer route. This eventually angered him to the point that he asked the cab driver to pull over, after which he shot him. When asked if being ripped off was a reason to kill a person, Richardson replied, “To me, it is.”

Richardson was found after the police traced the call from a woman that had requested for the McCarthy cab to pick someone up. It was found that the drop point for the cab was a home where Richardson often went. The police conducted a search operation at the property, where Richardson was found hiding inside a shared attic. The handgun used to kill the cab driver was also recovered from the attic. The gun used in the crime was purchased for for $175 from Newark, New Jersey. Richardson also claimed he is a member of the Boyton Boys set of the Bloods gang, and says that he was released from jail recently for being a suspect in a triple homicide in New Jersey.

The woman who had made the call claimed she did not know Richardson and that she had only helped call the cab for him since he didn’t have a phone.

The victim cab driver Vincent Darbenzio had joined McCarthy Cabs just a month ago.

Richardson has been charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder, robbery and carrying a gun without a license for the death of the cab driver. He currently doesn’t have an attorney. This unfortunate piece of news comes just a day after The Inquisitr reported about a New York City cab driver losing his license after he caused an accident that claimed the life of a nine-year-old boy.

[Image Via Lackawanna County Police]