Kellogg MBA Allegedly Stabs Taxi Driver

Morgan Stanley has put a senior investment banker with an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management on leave following his arrest this week on assault and hate crime charges for allegedly stabbing a taxi driver over a fare dispute.

William Bryan Jennings, the 47-year-old co-head of fixed-income capital markets at Morgan Stanley, was arrested near his home in Darien, CT, on Wednesday (Feb. 29), and charged with second-degree assault, larceny and intimidation by bias or bigotry, according to a report by Reuters.

Jennings was released after posting $9,500 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, March 7.

The arrest and charges stem from a late-night cab ride that Jennings took from Manhattan to his $2.3 million home at 39 Knollwood Lane.

Upon reaching the destination, the driver and Jennings, whom the driver said was intoxicated, argued about the fare. The driver assessed a $294 charge and Jennings apparently counter-offered $160.

The driver, who lives in Queens, New York, and is of Middle Eastern descent, told police that Jennings refused to pay the fare and began threatening him and using racial slurs, according to police.

With Jennings still in the car, the driver began driving around the city looking for a police officer to resolve the dispute, according to police. At some point the driver, whose identity is being withheld, put his hand through the partition and Jennings allegedly stabbed him with a pen knife, police said.

The driver then stopped the vehicle and Jennings allegedly fled from the scene, according to police. The driver called police to report the incident at 12:30 a.m. on December 22.

The driver received immediate medical attention in Darien and later went to a hospital where the lacerations required six stitches.

Police had been looking for Jennings since the alleged incident, but because he did not contact police and there was limited information about his identity, detectives were unable to immediately find him. He turned himself in at the Darien police station this week.

A lawyer for the investment banker claimed that Jennings was “the victim of an abduction” and did not use racial slurs.