Some taxi drivers will do almost anything to top up their fares. Some drive you on longer-than-necessary routes while others, like 38-year-old Hervey Farrell, will even go as far as secretly filming upskirt photos of you while drunk before blackmailing you not to release the sordid footage.
Farrell, who also works as works as a New Orleans radio personality, shot intimate footage of a woman who’d been on a night out in in the city then demanded $60,000 to destroy the tape, claiming it would damage the woman’s career and social standing in the community.
The unnamed passenger admits flirting with Farrell and kissing him in his cab, but denied giving him permission to film her.
“I was intoxicated, I had had too much to drink,” the woman told NOLA.com. “But that doesn’t make it OK for him to have done what he did. What he did to me was criminal and wrong.”
Farrell had initially filed charges of battery against the woman before sending her a letter referring to the footage and demanding $60,000 for its destruction. This amount was later lowered to $1,000. Rather than paying up, the woman contacted police, which led to Farrell’s arrest.
Farrell has since been charged with voyeurism and extortion by the New Orleans Police Department, with bail set at $20,000. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.
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