FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) – A family is speaking out after a trip from the airport ended with a 911 call when their taxi driver refused to stop or let them out of the vehicle over a payment dispute.<\/p>\n
Speaking to 7News on Monday, the Guetarni family said they were fresh off a spring break trip to Canada when they landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and decided to grab a taxi.<\/p>\n
The taxi they chose had a sign that specified it accepted all major credit cards and had working credit card machines.<\/p>\n
But the family said the driver didn\u2019t tell them his machine didn\u2019t work until several minutes into their trip home.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, we get in the car, and we\u2019re like, \u2018We don\u2019t have cash,’\u201d said Catherine in a video shared with 7News of the incident.<\/p>\n
And that statement kicked the argument into high gear. The driver, despite the posted rules for taxis, demanded that the family pay him in cash.<\/p>\n
When they said they didn\u2019t have cash, the family said he allegedly stopped communicating with them and began driving erratically.<\/p>\n
A video from inside the car, shared with 7News, shows the terrifying experience for the Guetarni family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHighway! Get off the highway! You\u2019re going to kill us!\u201d yelled Catherine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you taking us?\u201d asked her husband.<\/p>\n
The man did not answer. According to the family, the driver drove at a dangerously slow speed and occasionally took his eyes off the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m begging you to just drop us off,\u201d said the husband.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me out of the car! Let me out of this car, do you understand?\u201d asked the husband. \u201cYou\u2019re taking me hostage at this point! You are taking me hostage with my kids!\u201d<\/p>\n
Catherine said it was a scary moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was terrifying,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
With her 8 and 10-year-old next to her and with her husband fuming, Catherine said she pleaded with the driver to exit the highway for more than 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we just please, can you just let us off at the next exit? That is all we would like,\u201d she said on the video.<\/p>\n
The terrified mother called 911 from the back seat.<\/p>\n
Dispatchers asked if they had passed Pine Island, which the family said they had.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to pull over, you have to pull over, and let us out of the vehicle. The police want you to please do this, please! We\u2019re gonna die!\u201d said Catherine.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow are you gonna die?\u201d asked the driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going 35 miles an hour on the highway!\u201d yelled Catherine. \u201cWe\u2019re getting honked at! We\u2019re swerving now!\u201d<\/p>\n
Once police got on the line, the driver took the highway exit and dropped the family off at a nearby Marathon gas station.<\/p>\n
Davie Police and Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrived and eventually allowed everyone to go their own way.<\/p>\n
But on Monday, Catherine recalled the scary incident to 7News.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were going 35 miles an hour. So slow, we were going so slow. Cars were honking at us. We almost got clipped by a semi,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Video shows the moment the children begin crying after a car nearly crashes into the slow-moving taxi.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy kids were scared to death,\u201d said Catherine.<\/p>\n
The family has since filed a police report with the Florida Highway Patrol.<\/p>\n
In a statement to 7News, FLL said:<\/p>\n
The airport\u2019s transportation management company \u201c\u2026has suspended this taxicab driver from operating at FLL and will refer the matter to Broward County\u2019s Consumer Affairs Division for further investigation. We regret that the guest experience was not satisfactory for this family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n
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