A Westchester woman was killed in Harlem early yesterday after she was mowed down by a livery cab driven by an unlicensed driver, police sources said.
The 21-year-old Mount Vernon resident, Taja Johnson, apparently was arguing with someone in her silver Audi just before 4:30 a.m. on 133rd Street near Eighth Avenue.
She then either got out of the car or was thrown out by the person she was riding with, said police sources.
Next, the Audi’s driver stepped on the gas — prompting Johnson to grab on to the back of the moving vehicle.
Unable to hold on, she was flung into the road.
One car swerved to avoid her. Another car, driven by illegal cabby Boubacar Bathily, 51, slammed into her, sources said.
A witness who would not give his name said it appeared the victim was dragged by the livery cab.
“She slipped under the cab, and he dragged her from one block to the next,” said the witness, a janitor in a nearby building.
“He let out his passenger — but I don’t know if she [the passenger] knew what was going on. Then the cab driver just took off. It’s like he didn’t even notice he hit her.”
Bathily had borrowed the vehicle from Aliou Kanout, 54, for the night. Kanout told The Post Bathily didn’t realize he had hit anyone until moments after the accident happened.
“He told me that when he was driving he hit something in street,” Kanout said. “He said that to him, it looked like a trash bag in the street. When he turned around to look at what happened, the thing on the ground looked like a human being. He panicked and drove away.”
A couple of hours later, Bathily had a change of heart and turned himself in. As of late yesterday, he had not been charged.
Johnson’s boyfriend is a housing cop, said police sources. Police do not believe the officer was with his girlfriend at the time of the incident.
Additional reporting by Erin Calabrese