Cap may be key to finding taxi driver's attacker - police

File photo / Herald on Sunday

A popular baseball cap may be the key to finding a man who repeatedly stabbed a Wellington taxi driver, police say.

Shlemon Yako, 60, originally from Baghdad, was stabbed in the chest and abdomen by a man he picked up on March 26.

The stabbing happened in Shropshire Ave, Wilton, about 12.30am, after Mr Yako picked up the fare at the Bay Road taxi rank in Kilbirnie.

The attacker - described as a short Maori or Pacific Islander, aged about 20 years and of thin build - was wearing a blue or black hooded jacket, white shoes and blue or black trousers, possibly jeans.

He left a blue New Era baseball cap with a New York Yankees emblem in the taxi.

"We're very conscious that it is a very common hat ... it'll have been somebody's pride and joy and they were wearing it up until Friday, but now we've got it so we're asking people to really think who had a hat like that but who's no longer wearing it," Wellington CIB Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Dunn told NZPA today.

Previous appeals for information had gone unanswered, which was "a little bit disappointing," he said.

"There's other lines of inquiry, obviously we've got forensic lines of inquiry on the go but we do need the public's help on this without a doubt."

The offender fled the taxi after the stabbing and ran up a stairway at the end of Shropshire Ave but police were unsure of his movements after that.

"This indicates that the offender may have a connection in some way to the Wilton area," Mr Dunn said last week.

"It's not clear what the offender's motive was, given that he didn't take any cash or property when fleeing, and no demands were made."

Mr Yako is recovering and planning to return to work, but only during the day.

- NZPA