Cabbie foils bank robbery

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A taxi cab probably isn't the best getaway car for a bank robbery.

At least that's what one suspect learned Monday after a couple of quick-thinking customers and a veteran cabbie foiled his attempt.

Police said 50-year-old Maurice Eugene Fields Jr. hailed a cab to take him to the nearby South Carolina Community Bank and asked the driver to wait for him.

When he came out with a fistful of money, a couple of customers followed him and told the cabbie not to take him anywhere because he had just robbed the bank, police said.

Driver Michael Airs took his keys and got out of the cab.

The suspect slipped through the back seat and walked away, but one of the customers followed him and kept in touch with someone else at the bank by cell phone.

Officers closed in on Fields, who gave up without resisting.