A 36-year-old Bayonne cabdriver was charged with a DWI

A 36-year-old Bayonne cabdriver was charged with driving while intoxicated after a passenger he dropped off, called police.

(Felix Alarcon/The Jersey Journal)

A 36-year-old Bayonne cab driver, with only three days on the job, was picking up and dropping off customers on his 12-hour shift with four times the legal alcohol limit, according to police.

Robert Pipher Jr., of Campbell Taxi was charged on Friday at 2 a.m. with two motor vehicle summonses, driving while intoxicated near a school zone and reckless driving.

He was also issued three city ordinance summonses, including failure to transfer a taxi cab operator's license to a new company, smoking a cigarette, taxi driver/unkempt/unshaven, said Bayonne Police Capt. Walter Rogers.

Bayonne police received a call from a passenger who was dropped off near the Constitution Avenue area complaining that the driver was swerving and driving erratically, said Rogers.

Police stopped Pipher Jr. in the red taxi, near East 32nd Street and Prospect Avenue.

"When police asked for his paperwork, they noticed him thumbing through numerous papers," said Rogers. "Officers detected an odor of alcohol emanating from his mouth."

Rogers said Pipher Jr. failed the field sobriety tests and was arrested.

At the police headquarters Pipher Jr.'s blood alcohol content was .32, four times the legal limit.

"He was a new guy," said Raymond Gortatowski, 38, the dispatcher at Campbell Taxi on 700 Broadway. "This kind of behavior is not tolerated."

According to Gortatowski, who was the dispatcher for a portion of Pipher's shift, he never stepped inside the office thoughout the 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift.

Gortatowski, who was dispatching from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. that evening said, "I had no clue he was drinking."

Owner Randall Voerth was not immediately available for comment, but Gortatowski said Voerth was very upset by the incident.

"This reflects bad on all of us," said Gortatowski. "People trust us to get them safely wherever they have to go."

Rogers said the police are investigating how Pipher Jr. was driving without a license to drive with the company.

"ABC took over the investigation," said Rogers. "ABC is responsible for licensing the drivers and they'll be reviewing the case to see if there were additional violations."

Gortatowski, a 16-year veteran with Campbell Taxi said the incident hit close to home.

"It hit a nerve," said Gortatowski, as he fought back tears. "In 1998 I was involved in a fatal car accident and it really bothers me that someone would drink and drive."