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Man arrested after allegedly trying to punch and chase taxi driver before stealing taxi

Jon BassettEastern Reporter

A MAN who allegedly stole a taxi first threw punches at the driver and chased him down a street before returning to the vehicle and stealing it.

The ride, from the Perth CBD to Harrisdale, allegedly went wrong about 1.30am this morning when the fare meter stopped working.

Senior Sergeant Craig Davis said an argument developed between the East Victoria Park taxi driver (21) and his passenger when the fare meter allegedly failed near the intersection of William and Hay streets, Perth.

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Sgt Davis said the passenger had earlier failed to give an exact address for which house he wanted to go to in Harrisdale.

“The driver reported he told his passenger he could no longer take him to his destination as the meter was not working,” he said.

An argument started when the passenger refused to get out of the taxi and the driver said he would call police.

It will be alleged the passenger attempted to punch the driver, who ducked and missed the fist, before he ran away while being chased for about 200m by the passenger.

The passenger returned to the taxi and allegedly stole the vehicle.

However, police contacted its operator Swan Taxis which used the vehicle’s GPS monitoring device locate it about 15km east in Hazelmere, after a pursuit of about five minutes.

A Wonthella man (27) was charged with assault, car theft, blood alcohol greater than 0.08, no driver’s licence and failing to stop, and he was set to appear in Midland Magistrates Court today.

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