Taxi driver in hospital after being stabbed on the job, cab company says

A Winnipeg taxi driver was left badly injured and in need of emergency medical care after an assault on Henderson Highway Wednesday night, says a woman who stopped to help the driver.

Stacey Roops, who didn't see the attack but came up the scene after the driver had activated his emergency beacon, said it happened near 655 Henderson Highway, just south of Kimberly Avenue.

She said she saw the taxi's emergency strobe light flashing as she drove by and turned around. She stopped her car behind the taxi, which was pulled off to the side of the road.

Roops approached the driver, who got out of the taxi.

"I said, 'Are you OK, sir?' He said, 'No, call 911,'" Roops told CBC.

She called police as blood gushed from the driver's face, she said. Emergency responders, including several police cars and an ambulance, arrived, said Roops.

Duffy's Taxi general manager Ram Valluru confirmed that the driver works for the cab company, and said the man had been assaulted and stabbed.

The driver is being treated in hospital, he said, adding the company is "thankful for the health care [the driver] has been receiving following this vicious, unprovoked attack."

Duffy's is "very concerned that once again, one of our drivers has been seriously assaulted while providing the essential service that our taxi industry is proud to provide to Winnipeggers and Manitobans," Valluru said.

Winnipeg police confirmed they responded to an assault on a taxi driver around 7:45 p.m. in the 600 block on Henderson Highway.

The driver was taken to hospital and upgraded to stable condition, Winnipeg police Const. Dani McKinnon said in an email to CBC.

No arrests have been made, McKinnon said.