Tourist Helps Police Catch Unlicensed Taxi Driver A Panamanian family who arrived in New York on Tuesday for a week's vacation got an abrupt introduction to one of the city's less desirable attractions: an unlicensed taxi driver who preys on unsuspecting tourists, the authorities said. The family, Tomas Sosa, his wife, Maria, and their two sons, ages 12 and 17, flew into Kennedy International Airport on Tuesday afternoon. There, at Terminal 4, Bhupinder Singh, 37, who the authorities said had not been licensed as a livery driver since 2004, approached them and asked where they were headed. The Sosas said they were going to Manhattan, and Mr. Singh led them to his Lincoln Town Car, parked in a terminal lot, said Al Della Fave, a Port Authority police spokesman. That is when Officers Robert Furey and Dante Castro-Recio of the Port Authority police spotted Mr. Singh. Officer Castro-Recio said he knew that Mr. Singh had been arrested six other times on charges related to being an unlicensed taxi driver. The officers got in an unmarked car, rode up to Mr. Singh's car, pulled out their badges and told him to stop. Instead, Mr. Della Fave said, Mr. Singh put his car in reverse and drove around them. But the Sosas" elder son, Aldo, who was sitting in the front seat, grabbed the wheel and drove the car into a guardrail on a ramp leading to the Van Wyck Expressway, Mr. Della Fave said. "We decided to take the wheel," Aldo said later, noting that his father had instructed him on what to do. Mr. Singh jumped out of his car and ran about 40 yards before the officers wrestled him to the ground and arrested him, the authorities said. Officer Castro-Recio said that Tomas Sosa had a bruised lip and that his wife was complaining of head pain from the crash. They were taken to Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica but did not stay for treatment, said Cleon Edwards, a spokesman for the hospital. Later, Aldo said he and his family were not scared. "Like every city, it has its dangers," he said. I'm pretty excited to be here. I was looking forward to this trip. Mr. Singh was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and other counts. Officer Castro-Recio said he was one of hundreds of illegal drivers who pick up tourists at the airport and charge them exorbitant fares. "This is a major problem at Kennedy Airport," he said. They rip these people off. "We have," he added, no sympathy for them."