A quick-thinking taxi driver in Elgin fended off an attacker and probably avoided serious injury when he used deodorant spray as makeshift mace.

"He was fine (afterward)," Elgin Deputy Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said of the cabbie. "He had a small laceration on his left thumb and a small abrasion on his neck."

The 51-year-old cabbie's brush with a man armed with a knife that was at least 10 inches long began when he picked up a man in his 20s outside the Grand Victoria Casino, 250 S. Grove Ave., at about 2 a.m. Thursday.

The man gave the cabbie, who was driving a minivan instead of a sedan, several sets of directions and destinations.

The cabbie got suspicious, so he put a small can of spray deodorant that he kept in the vehicle between his legs, the police report said.

At about 2:20 p.m., at the intersection of Wellington and Bent streets, the man leaned forward in the minivan, put the knife to the cabbie's throat and demanded money.

In response, the cabbie sprayed the man in the face and eyes, disorienting him and causing him to drop his knife, which eventually was left in the cab.

"The doors were locked so he punched the cabdriver a few times" until the cabbie unlocked the doors, Swoboda said.

The attacker ran toward the apartments behind the ClockTower Plaza shopping center. He is described as black, about 6 feet tall and 160 pounds.

No arrests have been made as of Thursday afternoon.

People with information should call (847) 289-2700.