Morgan Stanley Exec Charged With Hate Crime for Allegedly Stabbing Cabbie

A 47-year old managing director with Morgan Stanley has been charged with a hate crime and second-degree assault for allegedly stabbing a cab driver in Darien, CT in December.

“Darien police charged William Bryan Jennings, 47, of Knollwood Lane, with second-degree assault, theft of services and second-degree intimidation based on race or bigotry,” John Nickerson of the Connecticut Post writes. "He was released after posting $9,500 bond and was to appear at court March 7. Jennings denied the allegations and through his attorney, Eugene Riccio, said he is the victim in the case.”

William Jennings, 47, of Darien was arrested Wednesday and charged with a hate crime in connection to a Dec. 22 incident involving a New York City cabbie. (Photo: Contributed Photo / CT)

The cab driver made the complaint at about 12:30 a.m. Dec. 22, according to Lt. Ronald Bussell.

The cab driver says he drove Jennings from New York City to Darien, CT, about an hour and a half drive, and once they arrived at Jennings home, the fare total was $200. Jennings refused to pay and an intense argument broke out.

The driver said Jennings became abusive, threatening him and using racial slurs, Bussell said.

The driver decided that, rather than letting Jennings go, he would find a police officer to help settle the dispute. While searching for a nearby station, the driver says he rested his arm near the car’s partition and Jennings stabbed his hand with a penknife.

"In our view, it was Mr. Jennings who was the subject of an abduction, and should be the victim in this case, not the defendant. He was the subject of an abduction," Riccio said.

What really happened, according to Jennings’s lawyer, was that the cab driver charged Jennings $300, the Morgan Stanley exec refused to pay, and the cab driver said he was going to drive him all the way back to New York City.

“Jennings was being whisked through the neighborhood while the cabbie ran stop signs and red lights, speeding toward the center of town,” Nickerson writes. “Riccio said Jennings pulled out a pen knife he uses for fishing and demanded to be let out of the car because he was afraid. On the Post Road, the cabbie tried to get the knife from Jennings and was cut while putting his hands through the window, Riccio said, adding that Jennings did not intend to hurt the driver.”

Once the cab stopped, Jennings escaped, his lawyer said. Jennings denies having used any “ethnically derogatory” language.

Riccio notes his client has been fully cooperative with the police.

"Jennings turned himself into police in Darien this week. He was released after posting $9,500 bail and is scheduled for a court appearance on March 9 at the Superior Court in Stamford, Connecticut," Wall St. Cheat Sheet report.

"Morgan Stanley representative Pen Pendleton said that Jennings has been placed on leave."