BOWIE, Md. (WUSA) - Police are still investigating the strange circumstances in the death of a taxicab passenger who attempted to rob the cab driver, then reportedly set him on fire. But they have identified the passenger as 30-year-old Jacqueline Renee Savoy of Lothian, Md.
Bowie Police Chief John Nesky says that at 4:52 on Friday afternoon, a Bowie police officers driving in the 4200 block of Northview Drive noticed smoke pouring from a taxicab.
When he stopped to investigate, he found the cab driver outside the car, suffering from burns. Inside the cab on the back seat was a body.
Nesky says that the cab driver told the officer that he picked up a customer at the the Largo Metro Station. The passenger directed the cabbie to the 4200 block of Northview Drive in Bowie.
When the cab reached Northview Drive, the passenger tried to rob the cab driver.
The cabbie said that during the robbery attempt, the passenger threw a liquid on him, and he got out of the cab to get away from the passenger. The cabbie felt a burning sensation on his back and realized he was on fire. The passenger had apparently set the liquid substance on fire.
Some of the same liquid had also apparently splashed onto the would-be-robber, setting him on fire.
The passenger was burned to death in the back of the taxi.
The cab driver, who works for an independent cab company, was taken to an area hospital for minor burns to his upper body.
The cab was impounded and taken to the Prince George's County Police Department impound lot.
The Prince George's County Homicide detectives have taken over the investigation.