ST. PAUL (AP) - A 15-year-old girl has been arrested for allegedly slashing the throat of a taxi driver after she refused to pay her fare.

St. Paul police said Roy Carlson Jr. was stabbed with a kitchen knife in the neck, leg and buttocks. He was treated at Regions Hospital and released.

When the cab arrived at the girl's destination in St. Paul before dawn Tuesday, the girl told the driver she didn't have the fare, according to police. He kept her possessions as security and she went inside to get the money.

The girl came back out and still didn't have the $22 fare, so the driver told her he was taking her to the police station for violating the city's curfew. Police spokesman Tom Walsh said the girl slashed the man's neck as he was driving.

``I heard her scream in the back seat I'm not going to jail and I'm feeling my throat being cut,'' Carlson said. ``I didn't expect it. She was a very small girl. I never even saw the weapon.''

He said she jumped out of the cab, but he grabbed her.

``I said, 'You know I'm bringing you in for a curfew violation.

Do you realize you're looking at attempted murder now?' It was then that I think it hit her, and she started to cry.''

He said his hairstyle may have saved his life. ``I had styling cream in my hair, and it slipped out of her hands.''

Carlson, a four-year cabdriver, is taking a week off to recover from a curved slash below his chin that's held together by 13 stitches, and other cuts. Police said their investigation corroborates Carlson's version of what happened.

``We do have the knife in our custody along with the young woman,'' Walsh said. He said the St. Paul police don't have a history with the girl.

The girl was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault and booked into the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center where she was awaiting charges on Thursday.

Her name was not released because she is a juvenile.