Cabbie's Robbery, Killing Crushes Family and Peers

He didn't like to work nights, not when he could be at home in Fairfax County with his wife and three children. But it was inauguration weekend. Visitors were swarming into Washington. There was money to be made.

So after stopping at home about 9 p.m. Saturday to say his prayers and give his children a little pocket money, Khalil Siddiqi got back into his taxicab and headed out into the night.

A few hours later, at 12:20 a.m. Sunday, Alexandria police found him dead from a gunshot wound in his cab at Princess and Buchanan streets, just west of Old Town. Police said robbery was a possible motive.

His death, the first homicide in Alexandria this year, has sent a ripple of fear through the taxicab community and left his family devastated.

"It's a nightmare for them," friend and fellow cabdriverAli Qizilbas said of his family. "They don't know what to do."

As police search for the killer, Siddiqi's employer, Alexandria Yellow Cab, is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

"We want to let our drivers know that we care for them, and we want to get the killer off the street," said Rhett Buer, president of Alexandria Yellow Cab. "Our drivers provide a very necessary service to the community, and now some are scared to go to certain areas or neighborhoods."

Friends and family members said Siddiqi, 50, of the Alexandria section of Fairfax, was a hardworking, dedicated family man who spent long days behind the wheel ferrying passengers across the region so that his children could lead a better life.

He had emigrated from Pakistan with his family 10 years ago, settling in Fairfax because of the good schools, low crime and high quality of life.

"He built a good life for his family," said Khalid Pervaiz, his brother-in-law. "He bought a house. . . . He was basically a normal American dreamer, trying to raise a good family. He didn't ask for anyone's help. He did it on his own. Put in a lot of hours, and somebody went and took his life basically to get a few bucks."

Siddiqi had studied economics in Pakistan, Pervaiz said, but wanted his children -- ages 12, 14, and 16 -- to go to college in the United States.

"They lost their father so suddenly," he said. "The next morning, they were wondering, 'How we will pay the mortgage?' Now they don't know what they're going to do. Will they be in this home one month from now? Where will they go? He was the sole breadwinner for the family."

Buer said a call for service came into the dispatcher about 11:40 p.m. Saturday.

Siddiqi let the dispatcher know that he would take the call, and he turned his meter on at 11:45 p.m., Buer said. Siddiqi was found by police about a half-hour later. He was unresponsive, and medics pronounced him dead at the scene. An autopsy revealed that he died of a single gunshot wound.

"He was one of our best drivers," Buer said. "He was always very friendly, someone you would want to work for your company."

The company is also setting up a donations site for the family by logging into paypal.com and sending money to donations@alexandriayellowcab.com or by calling the company at 703-836-2500. Alexandria police urge anyone with information to call 703-838-4444 or 703-838-4711.