CANADA Canada - Mohamad Nakib-Arbaji, 53, Toronto, 21 April 2003

On Monday, April 21, 2003, at around 10.35 p.m., a man entered the Daisy Mart Variety Store at 1174 Morningside Avenue. He approached the lone female clerk who was behind the counter and pointed a silver handgun at her, demanding cash.

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Mohamad Nakib-Arbaji, a 53-year-old self-employed taxi driver, tried to stop the robbery by grabbing the suspect. During the struggle, he was shot and collapsed on the floor.

The suspect, after shooting the deceased, went to the rear of the counter and attempted to open the cash register. When he was unsuccessful, he fled the store on foot. He was last seen running west on Sheppard Avenue East towards Malvern Woods Park.

Nakib-Arbaji was pronounced dead at the scene.

The suspect is described as a black man with a medium complexion. He was about 5’5”, with a very thin face and build and around 18-20. He was armed with a silver handgun and carried a bag with short handles.

Homicide Cold Case Detective Sergeant Stacy Gallant said Nakib-Arbajhi was survived by five children.

“This man was killed while attempting to stop a violent armed robbery,” Gallant said. “Stand up for him. Stand up for his family and the public. Identify his killer.”

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[h=1]Cold Case Homicide #15 for 2003 - Mohamad Nakib-Arbaji[/h]

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Mohamad (Mo) Nakib-Arbaji, 53, was a Toronto taxi driver for 22 years. In 1999 when the city of Toronto created a new class of non-transferable "Ambassador" taxi operator licenses he was one of the first applicants to obtain one. He drove as an independent owner-operator for Able-Atlantic Taxi.

At 10:30 p.m. on Monday, April 21, 2003 Mr. Nakib-Arbaji ended his shift and dropped into the Daisy Mart in the shopping mall at Sheppard and Morningside before heading home. He and other drivers frequented the store and routinely parked in the mall lot while waiting for calls.

Mr. Nakib-Arbaji walked in on a robbery in progress. He grappled with the robber, described as a thin young man of medium complexion between 17 and 20 years old, and was fatally shot in the neck and back. He died in hospital.

Ironically Mr. Nakib-Arbaji was wearing a bulletproof vest. Acquaintances speculated that this may have influenced him to confront the robber.
He began wearing the vest soon after two Toronto-area cab drivers were murdered in the same week in 1999-2000.

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