WITNESS : Threatened Cabbie Went on Attack : The driver soon found himself pummeling, wrestling, butting and biting his passenger--and looking down the barrel of his gun.

Valery Yakubov’s instincts clicked immediately after the mysterious passenger boarded his taxi in front of John Wayne Airport on Friday morning.

The man wore light makeup on his dark-skinned face, sunglasses, a winter jacket zipped all the way up and black gloves. He hurriedly entered the cab, barking orders to be taken to the Irvine Hilton.

“This is something strange,” Yakubov, 29, said he thought to himself. “What’s the deal with the makeup? Is this a disguise or what?”

What followed was a frantic scuffle during which Yakubov found himself staring down the barrel of the man’s gun, trying to persuade the passenger-turned-hijacker not to pull the trigger.

The ordeal with the passenger lasted no more than 15 minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime, Yakubov recalled from his bed at Healthcare Medical Center of Tustin, where he was admitted for a broken rib, a scrape on his right cheek and other abrasions.

After picking up the passenger, Yakubov said, he drove the taxi along MacArthur Boulevard, exchanging the usual pleasantries with his passenger. The man told Yakubov that he was a stockbroker from Houston, and immediately asked the cabbie: “Do you get paid by the hour or the miles?”

The passenger appeared fidgety. “He kept putting his hand under his jacket (as if) to reach for something,” said Yakubov, a Ukrainian immigrant. “When I looked over at him, he would take his hand away.”

But as the taxi cruised down Von Karman Avenue, the passenger swiftly drew a gun from his jacket and ordered Yakubov to pull over.

With the taxi traveling about 25 m.p.h., Yakubov let go of the steering wheel and pounced on the man.

“We were both in the back seat now. I was frightened that he would kill me and I was mad. I held the gun with one hand and hit him with the other. I hit him and he hit me. I hit him in his face over and over . . . there was blood everywhere. I think I hit him with my head and I even bit him too. I hit him with everything but I kept (holding on) to the top of the gun.”

Yakubov said the gunman appeared scared and surprised.

“He said, ‘What are you doing? We would both get killed?’ We both used dirty language. I told him that we would both get killed if he didn’t let go the gun.”

As the car slowed near the Holiday Inn on Von Karman, Yakubov said, the gunman appeared to panic.

“I can’t say who looked more scared. He said, ‘Let me go! Let me go!’ I said that I would let him go if he let the gun go.”

Suddenly, the gunman opened the right rear door and attempted to jump out of the still-moving cab.

Still clutching the gun, Yakubov held on to the man. The struggle continued for a couple minutes until the gunman jerked free. During the struggle a shot rang out, but no one was injured.

“He then aimed the gun at me. I was scared. I said, ‘If you kill me, you will go to jail. You will be executed.’ Then I told him the police (are) coming. I think he pulled the trigger, but (the gun) jammed. People started to gather. When he jumped into the taxi, I jumped into some bushes . . . and hid.”

From his hospital bed, Yakubov pondered about having to return to his job soon. He said he was concerned about cabdrivers being the targets of crime.

“Someone has to do something about these criminals,” he said. “I fought back only because he wanted to harm me.”

POLICE VEHICLE CHASES IN COUNTY THIS YEAR

Jan. 4--A Santa Ana man is booked on suspicion of drunk driving and evading arrest after he leads police on a chase into San Diego that ends when his car runs out of gas.

Jan. 5--Huntington Beach police arrest two robbery suspects after a freeway car chase during which they throw bags of loot out their windows.

Jan. 8--A 17-year-old, suspected of robbing a convenience store, crashes a stolen vehicle off a freeway embankment during a chase by Buena Park police.

Jan. 9--Authorities chase suspected car thieves in separate pursuits in Orange County. Both chases end without incident.

Jan. 18--California Highway Patrol officers pursue a carload of illegal immigrants at speeds of 95 m.p.h. from San Clemente to Westminster--then treat them to hamburgers and fries after they are captured.

Feb. 1--A motorist leads police on a 90-minute chase through Los Angeles and Orange counties before being arrested near Del Mar in San Diego County.

Feb. 8--A freeway chase from Huntington Beach to Compton ends with the arrests of three men suspected of robbing a department store jewelry counter at gunpoint.

March 14--A San Diego man suspected of robbing a Bank of America branch leads police in a chase from Orange to San Juan Capistrano. He is arrested.

April 16--Six people suspected of robbing a jewelry store and the jewelry department of Robinson’s are arrested after five of them lead Huntington Beach police on a chase through Orange and Los Angeles counties.

April 22--A motorist being pursued by police crashes a stolen pickup truck after ramming a patrol car and driving through a fence.

June 8--Two county teen-agers lead police on a car chase that ends near Barstow after authorities lay down a strip of spikes that puncture the tires of the stolen automobile.

June 10--A Costa Mesa man is arrested after slamming into five cars in a police chase during which a pregnant woman is injured.

June 21--A 21-year-old motorcyclist is killed when he loses control and smashes into a tree while he is being chased by police for speeding.

July 6--A man pistol-whips a cabbie, steals the taxicab in Irvine and then fires at officers while fleeing on the San Diego Freeway to Laguna Hills. After the cab’s tires blow out, the suspect runs, fires at pursuing officers and is wounded by return gunfire.

Source: Times files