CABBIE WHO LOST CASE FINDS PLENTY OF SYMPATHY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 9, 1992                   TAG: 9202090031
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO                                LENGTH: Medium
CABBIE WHO LOST CASE FINDS PLENTY OF SYMPATHY
A taxi driver has received a huge outpouring of support after a jury ordered him to pay $24,595 to a mugger he pinned against a wall with his cab.
"I think he's a hero," said restaurateur Bob Larive, who joined the howls of protest against the jury's decision last week. "He did the right thing, and now he's being penalized. This stuff has got to stop."
In May 1989, Holden Charles Hollom chased a mugger who knocked down a tourist and stole her purse. To make sure the man didn't get away, Hollom used his taxi to pin him against a building.
The mugger, Ocie McClure, sustained a broken leg and sued Hollom, claiming he had used excessive force. McClure is serving a 10-year sentence in state prison for the robbery.
The protests and the funds started to flow Friday morning, when radio talk show host Ronn Owens started "The Charles Hollom Fund" with his own $100 check.
"It's been unbelievable here," Owens said Friday afternoon, after receiving hundreds of calls. "The phones are ringing off the hook . . . and about 95 percent are supportive of the cab driver."
Because donations were arriving by mail, it was not known Saturday how much money the appeal had raised.
Since the radio show, Hollom said he has been swamped with calls. He went to bed about 5 a.m. Friday and had 211 messages on his voice mail system when he woke up at noon.
"My feelings are wonderment," Hollom said. "I just shake my head at what's going on."
A secretary at Luxor Cabs, Hollom's employer, said the company was "absolutely besieged with calls." Many of the callers said they would only take a Luxor cab from now on, said the secretary, who asked not to be identified.
Ian Zimmerman, McClure's attorney, on Thursday had called Hollom "basically a decent guy," but said he overreacted. A juror, Albert Starr, had said what Hollom did "was heroic, but he didn't consider a few things."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB