Victoria man ditches $225 cab fare, Good Samaritan covers it

When a passenger stiffed a Victoria cab driver of $225, a Good Samaritan stepped in to right the wrong.

Driver BJ Roberts recently picked up a man in his 20s who needed a ride from Victoria General Hospital to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

Roberts told the man the ride would cost about $220. The man agreed to the price and promised that his mother, Cindy, who worked at in the lab at the Nanaimo hospital, would cover the tab.

When Roberts pulled up to the hospital, the passenger ran into the hospital, vowing to return moments later with the $225 he owed.

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"After about five minutes, I started getting a bad feeling," he told the Victoria Times-Colonist. "I really never saw it coming."

Roberts said he often asks passengers to leave a wallet or ID to ensure their return, but didn't this time.

Roberts went into the hospital to look for the passenger and his mother. He soon learned that no one named Cindy works in the lab.

"I said, 'Oh my gosh, I just got scammed out of $225.'"

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Just then, a man in his 50s approached Roberts with a wad of cash: $225.

"He said, 'Listen, I've driven cabs for some years when I was younger, I got shafted a few times, and I didn't like it. It's not fair to you. I can afford it, please take it,'" Roberts recalled.

The Good Samaritan refused to give his name.

"It leaves me feeling very good," Roberts said of the kindness of the stranger, adding: "I will never make that mistake again."