Fare dodger

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - A taxi driver told police he was stiffed on an $8,200 cross-country fare by a female passenger he shuttled from Beverly Hills, Calif. to North Carolina.

The meter in Levon Mikayelyan's taxi cab hit the staggering fare after a 2,600-mile journey that ended at a Holiday Inn in Chapel Hill. Mikayelyan said the rider's family paid him only $800, Chapel Hill police spokeswoman Jane Cousins said Friday.

"We do get reports of people who are not able to pay cab drivers, but certainly not with this amount," Cousins said.

Mikayelyan filed a police report Tuesday but no charges have been filed. Cousins said police were done with the case and referred Mikayelyan to a magistrate judge.

Leo Mika, a dispatcher for West Coast Yellow Cab, said Friday that the company has been paid another $2,000 toward the fare and plans to get the rest through small claims court. Mikayelyan agreed to give the woman a 25 percent discount off the metered rate, Mika said.

"She told him, 'When we get there we'll pay you,' but when he got there she didn't pay," Mika said, adding that it was the first time one of the company's taxi drivers had made such a long trip.

Mikayelyan was driving back to California on Friday, Mika said.

The company is based outside Los Angeles in Van Nuys, Calif.