On this day, Nov. 10, in 1980, CBS News anchor Dan Rather claimed he had been kidnapped by a Chicago cabbie.
Rather was on his way to interview author Studs Terkel, but refused to pay the $12 fare because the driver couldn’t find the address.
With Rather still in the back seat, the driver, Eugene Phillips, 38, took off on a wild ride, Phillips said, in search of police.
Rather stuck his head out the window, shouting “I’m being kidnapped!” An officer got the driver to stop. Phillips was charged with disorderly conduct and refusing to let a fare out, but the charges were dropped.
During his nightly sign-off, Rather described the incident as “life in the raw in the streets of America. It can get tough. And it did.”
– Scott McCabe
