AUBURN — A cab fare who was stabbed over the weekend has refused to press charges against his attacker, according to police.

A driver at Five Star Taxi in Auburn said Monday she picked up two passengers in the parking lot of Gipper’s Sports Grill in Auburn shortly before 1:30 a.m. at the request of police in that city.

Carol Bigelow said the two men climbed into the minivan she was driving. The passenger in the back of the van, who said he’d been punched in the face at Saffire Nightclub earlier, began complaining of back pain.

As Bigelow pulled up in front of the home of the two men about 2 miles from Gipper’s, she noticed blood on the back seat.

She called 911 and waited for ambulance and EMT crews as well as police, she said.

The other passenger in the cab reached behind his friend and his hand came away with “a lot of blood,” Bigelow said. The stabbing victim was starting to have trouble breathing, she said.

She said she hadn’t noticed the blood when the passenger got into the cab because he had worn a thick shirt with black and blue checks, she said.

Ambulance crews put the man on a gurney and wheeled him to a waiting ambulance from Bigelow’s cab, she said.

Bigelow, who has fewer than two years on the job, said it was the first time she’d transported a passenger who had been stabbed.

Auburn Deputy Police Chief Jason Moen said Monday the passenger had been in a fight in the parking lot of McDonald’s restaurant and hadn’t realized he’d been injured.

Gipper’s and Saffire Nightclub are near McDonald’s on Center Street in Auburn.

The stabbing victim refused to cooperate with police and declined to press charges, Moen said.