Hardworking immigrant driver shot dead in Brooklyn, 2 weeks after starting his job as a car service driver

Slain taxi driver Naveed Afzal had only started working for a Brooklyn taxi service for two weeks to support his family when a gunman shot him in the face, his roommate told the Daily News.

“All his money went to his family,” said 62-year-old Mohammad Rundjawa. “That’s why he started (driving) two weeks before the incident.”

Afzal, 52, stopped in front of a Lincoln Place apartment building near Underhill Avenue in Crown Heights around 10 p.m. on June 21 to pick up a passenger, police said.

When he arrived, two men got into his back seat and an altercation ensued. According to police, the altercation ended with one of the men shooting Afzal in the face.

Paramedics took the victim to New York Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he died three days later, police said.

Afzal came to the U.S. in early 2022 with plans to work for Lyft and Uber to support his wife, son and three daughters who still live in Pakistan, according to Rundjawa, who drives for Uber and said he and Afzal were neighbors in Pakistan before becoming roommates in Brooklyn.

The hard-working immigrant father got a job at a pizza place in Red Hook while waiting for his applications to be approved by Lyft and Uber, but he ended up on a months-long waitlist for the ride-sharing apps, Rundjawa says.

“They say we have too many drivers,” said Rundjawa. “He waited five months. They didn’t respond.”

With his three daughters already in college and his son about to graduate high school, Afzal couldn’t afford to wait for ride-sharing apps. Instead, he started driving for Junior Express Car Service, which, unlike Uber and Lyft, accepts cash as fare — exposing drivers to thieves, Rundjawa says.

“Uber is safe – this is different,” said Rundjawa. “The ride-hailing people take the cash. The robbers know that as a Lyft driver, you don’t have any cash.”

Fernando Mateo, president of the New York City Taxi Drivers Association, said potential crooks have been known to target ride-hailing drivers. In April, he offered a $7,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of wanted robbers in any of the nine ride-hailing robberies that month.

“We have to put a stop to this,” Mateo told the Daily News in April. “We have to make sure drivers are safe.”

Mateo said whoever ordered the ride that led to Afzal made a note on the order that he would pay in cash – a tactic thieves use to ensure they get a driver worth robbing, Mateo said.

“You can order a vehicle and say you’re paying cash,” Mateo said. “Then when you get there, they’ll know you have cash and try to rob you.”

The taxi activist believes it is possible that Afzal was shot by his own passenger.

“We don’t know if Naveed, a very religious man, refused to give up his income and that’s why they shot him in the head,” Mateo said, “and left him to die.”

Afzal’s funeral was held on Tuesday at the Makki Masjid Muslim Community Center in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, where representatives from the New York Police Department and the Pakistani embassy, ​​along with hundreds of mourners, paid their last respects, according to Rundjawa.

“There were a lot of people there,” said Rundjawa. “He was a very good man.”

According to Faheem Mian, the director of Al-Rayaan Muslim Funeral Services, numerous fellow taxi drivers were also present, praying in solidarity for the murdered taxi driver, even though they had never met Afazl.

“There were so many taxi drivers there,” Mian said. “They didn’t even know him, but they came to his final prayers.”

According to Rundjawa and Mian, Al-Rayaan Funeral Home covered the costs of both Afzal’s funeral and the transportation of his body to his family in Pakistan, where it was expected to arrive early Friday morning.

“When such things happen and the person has no family, we take care of the funeral out of kindness,” Mian said.

“I believe in karma,” said Mian. “What goes around comes around. If you do good, good will come around.”

Messages seeking comment from Junior Express Car Service were not responded to.