Aurora Police have charged a Naperville man with hijacking a taxi and stabbing the driver in the throat Thursday.
Maurice A. Martin, 33, faces charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking, vehicular hijacking, aggravated battery, aggravated fleeing and eluding police, and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Authorities say the driver received a call at 4:45 a.m. for a pickup at a Naperville gas station in the 600 block of North Route 59. The customer, allegedly Martin, asked to be driven to the Hollywood Casino in downtown Aurora, but asked to stop at another gas station first to get change for a $100 bill.
Police say Martin kept changing his mind about where he wanted to go, and gave the driver street-by-street instructions to different locations. After the driver pulled over in an area near Spring and North Fourth streets, the two got into an argument that culminated with the customer cutting the driver's throat with a broken plastic license plate holder frame.
The driver jumped from the slowly-moving cab, and police say Martin jumped into the driver's seat and drove off.
Police spotted the cab shortly before 5 p.m. near Butterfield Road and Route 59 and a chase ensued involving multiple police department. The pursuit eventually ended when the lead vehicle ran over police stop sticks at Ohio Street and Harriet Avenue in Aurora.
The cab driver was treated for non-life threatening wounds and was released.
Martin is scheduled to appear in court Saturday.
