Drunken trio attempt to steal taxi

A taxi driver was punched in the face repeatedly and robbed during an attempted car-jacking by three of his customers early this morning.

Detective sergeant Mel Ridley of the Tauranga CIB said a man and two women, all aged in their early 20s, are to appear in Tauranga District Court tomorrow charged with aggravated robbery in relation to the incident in the central city around 4.30am.

The trio had taken a taxi from outside a nightclub to another central city address where they directed the driver to stop.

The man, who was the front seat passenger, then punched the taxi driver in the face while the two women held the victim from behind.

"The taxi driver was vacating the car in fear -- for obvious reasons -- but when he intervened to stop the man starting the car, the man got out and punched him again, before stealing his cellphone, which had fallen to the ground, and running off."

The would-be carjackers ran to a nearby address, to where police sniffer dogs easily tracked them.

"They were all fairly intoxicated," Mr Ridley said.

"We're not talking about criminal masterminds here."

The driver received a bloody nose in the attack but was otherwise unharmed.

- NZPA