‘Cut him up with an axe’: The terrifying moment a Bunbury cab driver was threatened in late night attack

The taxi driver who had tools and rocks pelted at his car during a late-night violence spree in Eaton at the weekend has described the terrifying moment a group of juveniles threatened to “cut him up with an axe”. Three cars were hit in the attacks at the same spot on Eaton Drive in the early hours of Sunday morning, with tools Australind Police believe were stolen from a parked car at Eaton Fair earlier that night. The Bunbury Taxis driver, who asked to remain anonymous, said his car was hit three times with what he believes to be a hammer, before he got out of his vehicle and approached the group. “All of a sudden these four people came out of nowhere from a bus stop or an alleyway and just started peppering the side of my car,” he said. “I saw them swing something, I didn’t see exactly what it was, but (judging by) the damage to my car looks like it was a hammer. “I yelled from a distance ‘why would you do that’ and they just yelled back at me and one of them — a young, squeaky voice — said ‘cut him up with an axe’.” He said the incident made him “reluctant” to go to the suburb, which is a well-worn route for taxis because of its distance from the normally brimming nightspots of the Bunbury CBD. “It’s uncomfortable knowing how easily it can happen and that they can do it to so many cars,” the driver said. “I didn’t want to go to Eaton for the rest of that night and I’m really reluctant to go to Eaton knowing that they’re just going to be lurking around during the school holidays and there is a good chance it can happen again.” And Bunbury Taxis general manager Navdeep Kumar said he wasn’t the only one, after “10 or 15” drivers finished work early that night out of fear. “A few of the drivers changed routes and some of them finished work because they said ‘nah, it is too scary to go out and do the job’,” he said. “Because of that there was an impact on the service and we were short of cars. “One of the cars had two female customers in it and it was pretty scary for them when it happened as well.” Another driver sat in his car while the group struck the driver’s-side window three times in an attempt to break the glass. All three cars were attacked near the intersection of Eaton Drive and Frost Street while heading westbound. Australind Police officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Luke Fowler said they were making “good progress” with their investigations and called for members of the public to come forward with any information. “There were no robbery offences, no one was injured; it is just pure, blatant damage,” he said. “If there is anyone who was driving around and might have any dash-cam footage from the area, we would love to obtain that footage or anything that might help progress the investigations,” he said.