A female taxi driver was left "extremely shaken" after being
slapped, spat at and threatened by a male passenger in Oamaru
on Sunday morning.
She called for assistance and the man was restrained by other
taxi drivers until police arrived.
A 21-year-old Oamaru man will appear in the Oamaru District
Court on September 3 charged with assaulting a female and
threatening grievous bodily harm, Sergeant Wayne Brew said.
The man threw a sandwich in the driver's face, slapped her in
the face five or six times, spat at her and threatened to cut
her throat, Sgt Brew said.
When contacted, Murray Bell, from Whitestone Taxis, said one
of the two other passengers - both females - had asked the
taxi driver to stop so she could be sick.
The driver stopped and said she would not take them any
further.
The women were "perfectly reasonable" but the man became
abusive, he said.
• A 54-year-old North Otago man was charged with dangerous
driving, driving while disqualified and failing to stop after
a police pursuit which started at Katiki on Sunday afternoon.
A police officer went to stop the vehicle, which was checked
driving over the speed limit, and the vehicle accelerated.
At one stage, the patrol car was doing about 170kmh and was
not gaining on the man.
He was stopped after about 4km, Sgt Brew said.
