Taxi driver puts up fight as passenger pulls gun

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A taxi driver and father of seven said he instinctively put up a fight when a passenger pulled a gun on him.

Tunufai "Tom" Vili, 44, of Napier, was halfway through a busy eight-hour shift when he picked up a man outside a closed dairy on the corner of Wycliffe St and Oldham Ave in the city about 9.45pm on Tuesday.

The man, who sat in the front passenger's seat, said he wanted to go to the suburb of Tamatea, but after travelling a short distance he asked Mr Vili to go to a nearby address to pick up his sister.

"He was behaving a bit suspiciously. He opened the door and quickly pulled a pistol on me and said, 'Give me your f...ing money'. I just reacted and quickly pushed the barrel away from me," Mr Vili said. "I don't think he expected me to do that. He was surprised."

The pair then spent "about a minute" wrestling over the gun.

While holding the barrel with his left hand, Mr Vili tried opening his car door with his right hand.

"While I did that he managed to get free and ran off. He said, `You're lucky I didn't kill you'. I thought about chasing him but I was pretty upset," Mr Vili said.

"It can be a pretty risky job at night time."

It was the first time Mr Vili had been assaulted in 14 years as a taxi driver.

Detective Constable Dave Crosby said police were wanting information on the offender, described as Maori, aged about 20, who was wearing a light-coloured hooded sweatshirt and dark trousers.

- © Fairfax NZ News