A Trio of Detroit Cabdrivers Takes a Christmas Eve Gamble

James drove through the night. Sylvia wondered whether they should stop for snacks. No need, said the Gambler, I'll make you a feast when we get to my restaurant.

They reached the Beltway about 2:30 Christmas morning. Suddenly, the Gambler started shouting that James had missed his exit. James was more concerned with his bladder, which was about to burst. He got off 495 and pulled into a gas station on River Road in Bethesda.

"I go around the side to use the bathroom, and I hear my friend say, 'He's got out of the car! He's running!' "

There went the Gambler, sprinting into the night.

James gave chase as hard as he could but didn't feel well. He dialed 911, and Montgomery County police were there in five minutes. "You don't get that kind of response in Detroit," James said.

Fittingly, the Gambler had escaped into a dead end. He was apprehended.

Montgomery County officers aren't sure of the Gambler's real name. He had one ID under the name Anthony T. Nguyen, which matches a 36-year-old man wanted on theft charges in two other states, including Pennsylvania.

Yesterday, sheriff's deputies from Delaware County, Pa., took Nguyen into custody to face theft, forgery and fraud charges. Montgomery County has a year to decide whether to file its own felony theft charges against the suspect, but there's some question about where the alleged crime took place: Michigan or Maryland.

James drove again on the dispiriting journey back to Motown. Erroll was too despondent. He kept saying that he would be the laughingstock of the Detroit cabbie community. They got home about 1 a.m. Friday.

"My son brung a plate from my mother's house, where they had a big turkey dinner," Sylvia said. "We had some Christmas."

Things got worse when James realized that the sweatiness and shortness of breath he experienced after running after the Gambler, and again during the drive home, were signs of a heart attack. When I spoke to him on the phone yesterday, he was in Botsford Hospital awaiting triple bypass surgery.

I asked James whether there was a moral to the story. Yes, he said. The world needs good Samaritans more than ever. The three Detroit cabbies were trying to help a man get home for Christmas, and even if things didn't turn out as planned, well, that's still a laudable act.