One of today's biggest stories on Wall Street was the news that Morgan Stanley's co-head of fixed income capital markets has been arrested and charged with a hate crime for allegedly threatening and stabbing a taxi driver...

We spoke with the defendant William Bryan Jennings' attorney, Eugene Riccio, to get his side of the story...

According to Riccio, Jennings took a cab from the city to his Darien, Connecticut home on Knollwood Lane. Riccio said when the cab arrived at his home, the driver said the fare was $294, which Riccio described as "grossly overcharged."

He said Jennings offered to pay what he thought was a reasonable cab fare of $160, but the driver wouldn't accept that offer. According to the attorney, the cab driver announced he was going to take Jennings back to the city.

Jennings attempted to get out of the cab, but was unsuccessful. By the time he was able to get the door open the car was moving too fast, the attorney said, adding that the cab driver ran through stop signs and red lights.

"The cab driver continued to drive in a reckless fashion, not observing lights, proceeding toward the Connecticut Turnpike," Riccio said. "My client did have a penknife, which he did take out. He kept asking this guy 'Stop stop stop' trying to get the cab driver to stop."That's the when the driver attempted to grab the knife. "Mr. Jennings was fearful for his safety," Riccio said. "He fled and did not contact the police. He did not want the cabbie to find out where he lived"



As he drove off, Ammar said, Jennings pulled the knife and began stabbing him through the open partition that divided the front and rear of the cab. Ammar said he tried to defend himself by using his right hand to block the opening, and then pulled over and dialed 911 again, as Jennings got out and fled, police said. His hand required more than 60 stitches, he said.

Jennings told Darien police the cab driver accidentally cut his hand while attempting to block the banker from calling the police himself on his cell phone, according to the report.


In the arrest warrant application dated Feb. 26, Perkowski wrote his investigation "discredits Jennings' statement that Ammar reached into the back of the cab while he was driving."

Ammar reaching into the backseat while driving, as Jennings claimed, would have been "virtually impossible," he wrote, adding that Jennings never attempted to call police in the aftermath of the incident. Jennings was charged Feb. 29.

Sounds like drunk guy was drunk.

 

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Wow those wall street types are bastages!

 

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The banker appeared "drunk," the driver said, according to court documents.

Jennings told police that, while he had been drinking throughout the afternoon, he wasn't "highly intoxicated," according to the police report. The executive said he had hosted the charity auction for Morgan Stanley until 6 p.m. before heading to the bank's holiday party at the hotel's rooftop bar.

He left the party sometime before 11 p.m. and headed to the street, where he was supposed to be met by a car service, Jennings said. He hailed Ammar's cab after the livery car didn't appear, according to the report.


He screwed the livery driver as well!

Better that he stabbed the cabbie instead of taking him out shooting to get his finger prints for a future set up.

 

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