Coney Island Cab Driver's Murder Solved Decade Later, Cops Say

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Bedford Armory resident has been arrested for murder more than a decade after cops found his alleged victim, a Brooklyn cabbie, shot in the stomach.

Christopher Smith, 36, was arrested Monday for shooting Khadim Bhatti, 63, on West 33rd Street and Neptune Avenue in Coney Island on Dec. 31, 2008, police said.

Medics found Bhatti inside his car about 5 a.m. and rushed him to Coney Island Hospital where he later died, police said.

Bhatti was a livery cab driver for Plaza Town Car who worked on his off-hours for lower fares, according to a New York Times report following his death.

It was not immediately clear whether he was shot as part of a robbery, the Times reported.

Bhatti, a father of six, had immigrated from Pakistan 25 before and lived with his wife in Coney Island, according to the New York Times.

Smith was arrested almost exactly 11 years later in Brooklyn's 84th Precinct, according to police.