Taipei  - A Taipei taxi driver accused of running over and killing a passenger after a quarrel was detained Thursday by prosecutors who were trying to determine whether he killed the passenger on purpose.

Lin Yuan-sheng, 39, who has been hiding since Tuesday's incident in Taipei, surrendered to police Wednesday evening.

After overnight questioning, police turned him over to the Taipei Prosecutor's Office Thursday, which is investigating whether Lin attacked the passenger intending to kill him or just to intimidate him, as Lin claimed.

Lin told police that he picked up the victim, Tu Tzan-hsiu, 50, early Tuesday from a nightclub to take Tu home but missed the passenger's exit on the expressway.

Lin said he apologized and the taxi got off the expressway at the next exit. Tu, who was reported to be slightly drunk, cursed Lin and hit Lin on the head.

After Tu got out of the taxi and was walking on the sidewalk, Lin said he wanted to race his taxi past Tu "just to scare him" but knocked him into the air and killed him.

But Tu's family members insisted that Lin killed Tu on purpose and demanded Lin be sentenced to death. (dpa)