By Jim Clark

While serving as the Street Commander at the SomerStreets event last Sunday, a uniformed officer observed a taxi pass through a road barrier that was clearly marked “ROAD CLOSED” in the middle of School St.

The officer stopped the taxi and asked the operator, Syed Kasmi, 47, of Nashua, NH, why he had chosen to ignore the road closure barrier and warning.

Kasmi told the officer that he was hungry and needed to park somewhere so he could get something to eat, according to reports.

The officer said that Kasmi became argumentative with him, and when directed to park his vehicle at a designated spot, where a citation would be written, the cabbie reportedly accelerated away from the area.

The officer gave chase on his bicycle and, because of the heavy traffic, was able to catch up with Kasmi near the intersection of Summer Street and Central Street.

When ordered to pull over, Kasmi reportedly refused at first but eventually complied, while the officer was thrown from his bicycle in the process.

The officer ordered Kasmi out of the taxi and he was placed under arrest, charged with failure to stop or yield.

Because Kasmi had parked his cab in a handicap parking place it was towed away and impounded.