The Pas taxi driver describes stabbing attack

A taxi driver in The Pas, Man., says he doesn't know if he'll drive a cab again, after he was stabbed multiple times in a robbery attempt this week.

Joe Spence, who has been driving a taxi in the northwestern Manitoba town for the past four years, said he always felt safe on the job — at least, until Wednesday.

According to RCMP, the incident happened after the cab driver picked up four passengers just before 2 a.m. that day.

Spence said he was dropping off the passengers when he was attacked from behind, in an attempt to get his wallet.

"The guy in the back seat was just stabbing me in the arms, so I protected myself, and then this guy was stabbing me so I grabbed the knife, and then I slipped," he told CBC News from his hospital room in Winnipeg on Friday.

"I grabbed it again [and] I slipped again, and then I grabbed it again and this time I twisted it and I grabbed the knife away from him and I started stabbing him back."

The two men and two women inside the cab then ran away.

"All I had was $60 in my wallet," Spence said. "If they wanted to take my wallet … well, for $60 they're going to kill me? And they were going to kill me."

Even with the nine stab wounds he sustained in the incident, Spence said he drove himself to the local hospital.

"All that went through my mind when I was driving to the hospital was my kids," he said.

2 men arrested

Not long after Spence arrived at the hospital, he was airlifted to Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

One of the suspects was treated in hospital in The Pas for his injuries.

A 19-year-old man and 23-year-old man, both from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, were arrested and are facing charges of aggravated assault and robbery.

Four days before Spence was attacked, another man in The Pas was flown to a Winnipeg hospital to be treated for nine stab wounds.

Despite the fact both men were stabbed the same number of times, RCMP say the two incidents are not related.

"We take this extremely seriously, but I would say at this point there's really nothing to indicate that there's any spike or any increase in any type of violence, especially with weapons, as we've seen here," said Cpl. Miles Hiebert.

The Pas has had problems with gang-related violence in the past, but Hiebert said the two recent stabbings are isolated incidents.

"In both instances, we have people in custody and continue to investigate," he said.

Spence remains in hospital, but he said he can't wait to return to The Pas.

"I don't know if I'll ever go back [to] taxi driving. I'm not sure," he said.