Police arrested a Florida man on Monday in connection with the destruction of a yellow cab in Midtown last week as Knicks fans took to the streets following the team’s Game 4 win.
NYPD officials said 21-year-old Saul Vargas was part of the group of people who swarmed the taxi on 36th Street and Seventh Avenue around 12:30 a.m. Thursday. A widely viewed video on social media showed people smashing its windshield and jumping on its hood, though police said Vargas is not among those who appear in the video.
Vargas is from St. Cloud, Florida, and is facing a charge of criminal mischief, according to police. They said he turned himself in on Monday evening at the Midtown South precinct.
Information for Vargas’ attorney was not yet available.
The department took 56 people into custody for various offenses amid the Midtown mayhem after Game 4. Vargas is one of the only alleged offenders police have publicly named.
Officials said they are still looking for a few people in connection with the cab incident. Driver Noureddine Bitat told the City Reporter that he was just ending a 13-hour shift when his taxi got stuck in the mob scene after the game. Through tears, he said the unruly group grabbed him and forced him out of the leased vehicle before trashing it, leaving him traumatized.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is working with Bronx rapper French Montana and Canadian TikTok star Zachery Dereniowski to raise money for Bitat.
The taxi was one of a number of vehicles damaged by wild fans during the Knicks’ NBA Finals run. Video from Saturday night shows groups of people tearing apart school buses in Times Square as the city celebrated the team’s championship win. At least one of the buses, which were being used as shuttles for World Cup Games, was set on fire.
Officials said no passengers were on the buses at the time, and no injuries were reported. Police have not yet announced specific arrests and charges in connection with that incident.
