2 Jet Blue pilots savagely beat cabbie, cops say

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2 Jet Blue pilots savagely beat cabbie, cops say
A ride from a strip club to a Subway restaurant turned ugly, cops say, when the passengers -- two pilots -- punched and kicked their cabbie.
	* Photos 
BY KIRSTIN MAGUIRE
kmaguire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Two Jet Blue pilots have been charged with two counts of theft and one of felony battery after allegedly attacking Miami cab driver Juan Martin over a $9 fare after a ride from a Fort Lauderdale strip club to a Subway restaurant, police said.
Pilots William Hart Smith, 40, and Brad Leopard, 38, both of Fort Lauderdale, allegedly attacked Miami cab driver Juan Martin about 2 a.m. on Aug. 12, said Fort Lauderdale Detective Katherine Collins. The pilots were arrested weeks later, on Sunday.
Martin said he picked the men up at the Solid Gold strip club on Oakland Park Boulevard, and they asked to be taken to a Subway. When he dropped the men off, they began arguing aver the $9 fare, Collins said. 
The men walked away from the cab without paying, according to the police report. The cabbie got out of his car and demanded payment, but they got angry and said something like, ''Who do you think we are? Tourists?'' Martin told police.
The men hit the cabbie in the head, then got more violent, according to the police report. They kicked and punched Martin in the head and face.
The cabbie suffered a concussion, a broken ankle and bruises to his elbow and knee.
A witness confirmed that the victim was repeatedly kicked and punched, and a Subway surveillance camera caught the incident on tape, according to the report.
Alison Eshelman, a spokeswoman for Jet Blue, declined to comment whether Smith and Leopard still worked for the airline after their arrests.
''We will continue to monitor the case,'' she said. 

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