A Queens livery cabbie’s refusal to drive two drunks home turned deadly when he lashed out with a wooden bat and blade — killing one of them, cops and witnesses said.
The driver, who is in the wind, turned homicidal after arguing with two tipsy passengers, who were protesting for a lift home in his cab at around 5 a.m.
The two men—ages 33 and 26—began arguing with the cabbie while standing on Roosevelt Ave. near 68th Street were in good spirits just before the deadly encounter.
Sources said they were knocking down drinks at a local bar and entered a bodega beaming.
“They were smiling a lot, like they were happy about something,” the clerk, who sold the men two six-packs of suds, told The Post.
The clerk added the pair came into the bodega buzzed but not belligerent, and said they were planning to call it a night.
“They said they were going home to relax.”
Beer in hand, the pair attempted to hail the cab.
The driver stopped, but then reconsidered after noticing the men were intoxicated and refused to let them inside his car.
Tempers flared, and the driver got out of his car, pulled out a wooden bat and smashed his rear window before pummeling the dejected passengers who defended themselves with the bottles of beer they just bought, police sources said.
The driver then drew a long knife and stabbed the 33-year-old victim in the torso, cops said.
When his 26-year-old friend tried to intervene he was stabbed in the chest.
The driver then sped off in his cab, leaving the two men bleeding in the street.
The clerk, who sold the pair their beer, said a man came storming into the store screaming ‘Call 911, call an ambulance!’
When the clerk asked what happened he was told ‘these guys just got stabbed.’”
Moments later a customer in the store called 911.
The victims were rushed to Elmhurst Hospital where the 26-year-old victim was pronounced dead, cops said.
Early this morning investigators at the scene tagged a snapped wooden baseball bat handle.
Cops were waiting to reveal his identity until the man’s family was notified.
His friend remains in stable condition.