The man accused of stabbing and killing a taxi driver in Norwalk told police he pulled out a knife when the driver made sexual advances and choked him with his scarf, according to a statement from the suspect released in court Friday.
Ramiro Arcos-Garcia, 32, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, has been charged in the murder of Jackson Pierre-Louis, 51, of Bridgeport. Police said the two were acquaintances.
Garcia initially told police he had been "coerced" into robbing Pierre-Louis because the person pressuring him to commit the crime threatened to hurt his girlfriend, according to Garcia's Miranda statement dated Dec. 12.
He then changed his story and said he ran into Pierre-Louis just after midnight Monday, Dec. 8 after going out for drinks at El Mexicano in Norwalk.
"This taxi driver has flirted with me in the past and has said that if I allowed him to ado anything that he wanted to me, he would give me any amount of money I wanted," Garcia said in the statement.
He told police he got into the car with Pierre-Louis, who was on duty working for Norwalk Yellow Cab, Inc., when Pierre-Louis came onto him. Police said Pierre-Louis is married and has four children.
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According to Garcia's statement, Garcia agreed to "sexual things" in exchange for $200, and Pierre-Louis said he would hand over the money at a hotel.
"He started driving and started touching me all over. He tried to kiss me and pull me closer to him by my scarf which was around my neck," Garcia said. "The taxi driver kept trying to kiss and hug me. When I started to resist his advances, he pulled me with more force by my scarf which I felt was beginning to choke me."
Garcia said he took out a knife and started stabbing Pierre-Louis to fight back. He also said he tried to cut off the scarf but couldn't remember if he did that before or after attacking the driver, according to the statement.
Pierre-Louis called 911 himself at 12:16 a.m. to report the stabbing, police said, and investigators found him on Grove Street. An ambulance responded and brought Pierre-Louis to Norwalk Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Garcia, who told police he is an undocumented immigrant and has gone by his brother's name, Gerardo Garcia, and the alias David Velez, currently lives in New Jersey but has spent time in Norwalk with his girlfriend and has also lived in New York and West Virginia, according to the statement.
He is also wanted Rockingham County Sheriff's Office in West Virginia on a warrant for kidnapping, felonious assault and carjacking. Police said local investigators have been in contact with authorities in West Virginia.
Bond for Garcia has been set at $2.5 million.
