Morgan Stanley Banker Charged With Assault A high-ranking Morgan Stanley banker has been put on leave after being charged with bias-motivated intimidation and assault in a case involving a late-night taxi ride. William Bryan Jennings, 47, was charged with second-degree assault, theft of services and intimidation by bias or bigotry for allegedly stabbing a Middle Eastern cab driver in December and making racially charged statements on his way home from the bank's charity auction, a spokesman for the police department in Darien, Conn., said Friday. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley confirmed the charges and Mr. Jennings's leave. Mr. Jennings, the Americas co-head of fixed income and capital markets for Morgan Stanley, refused to pay a cab fare for a ride back to his home in Darien from a charity event in New York in the early hours of Dec. 22, according to his lawyer, Eugene Riccio. Police say Mr. Jennings balked at the amount of the fare, using racial slurs and threatening the driver, then stabbed the driver's hand with a pen knife when the driver reached through a partition into the back seat. In an interview on Friday afternoon, Mr. Riccio denied that his client had stabbed the cab driver or used racial epithets, and said that Mr. Jennings had been "taken against his will" when he refused to pay what he considered an outrageous fare. According to Mr. Riccio, the driver, while stopped in the driveway of Mr. Jennings" house, demanded $294 for the hour-long ride from Manhattan to Darien, where Mr. Jennings lives. Mr. Jennings, who has taken similar cab rides "many times over the years" and is "familiar with generally what it costs," refused to pay the full amount, which was roughly double what he was accustomed to paying. The driver then threatened to drive Mr. Jennings back to New York City if he didn't pay the fare, Mr. Riccio said. Mr. Jennings tried to exit the car, but found the doors locked from the inside. "He couldn't get the door open," Mr. Riccio said. At that point, the driver sped away, with Mr. Jennings still inside, Mr. Riccio said. Mr. Jennings demanded to be let out of the car, then removed the knife from his bag as the driver neared a Connecticut Turnpike on-ramp. Mr. Riccio characterized the knife as a "pen knife" Mr. Jennings "uses for fishing," and said that after the driver grabbed the knife, Mr. Jennings was able to exit the car and run roughly a mile back to his house. Mr. Jennings did not come forward to police immediately because, Mr. Riccio said, he had "fear for his safety and that of his family." According to his 2001 New York Times wedding announcement, Mr. Jennings is a Williams College graduate and holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern. As for why Mr. Jennings decided to take a taxi home to Connecticut after the charity auction, Mr. Riccio said that another mode of transportation "fell through," and said Mr. Jennings took "what transportation was available to him." Mr. Jennings was released on $9,500 bail and is set to appear in court next week.