Uber driver shot and killed by 81-year-old Ohio man after both received scam calls, police say

[Spuggy]

Originally Posted by ocnjgirl

No they were both scammed. Someone called the guy with a fake kidnapping or something and told him they wanted $12,000 and someone would come pick it up. Then they ordered package pickup via Uber. The man thought she was in on it but she had no clue. He’s absolutely in the wrong, because she was trying to leave when he shot her. She was backing up to the car calling for help and was actually back in her car when he shot her.

Lawyers I’ve seen interviewed think they’ll go with “diminished capacity” due to his age as a defense. What I don’t get is why they don’t go after the scammer. They have to know who it is because Uber said they’ve suspended his account.

He wasn’t diminished enough to be able to own and load a gun and fire it, nor unable to call 911 (after the fact.) He could have called 911 before and stayed in the house until the police arrived, so I am not buying the diminished responsibility.

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by yspobo

Kinda reminds me of a scam that was done to a former local restaurant. The place closed later. The caller asked to speak to the manager. Caller said that this customer was a criminal of some sort. I don't remember the details of that. Caller claimed to be law enforcement and it was an emergency. Had the manager basically strip search the customer. The restaurant fired the manager and the other people who were working at the time. Customer filed lawsuit and the paper never mentioned it again. Restaurant was closed down after struggling for a year or so. Fortunately, no one was killed over it. The police never pursued the caller.

People who do things like this need to be prosecuted and locked up. A woman is dead because of what the person did.

Originally Posted by Parnassia

Anyone stupid enough to believe LE would direct them to detain or strip search anyone instead of waiting for officers to show up and take control of the situation probably shouldn't be responsible for a public facing business.

Oh.. What was the name of that scam group? It was led by a Canadian.. But they'd call hotels and basically get people to set off fire alarms.. Call restaurants and get them to set off the fire suppression systems.

Some crazy stuff. Pranknet.. that was it. Big in the late '00's.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranknet

Look at this part..

In February 2009, "Dex" and a member called "Slayer" called a KFC restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire. Posing as a manager from the corporate office, he persuaded employees to douse the building with fire suppression chemicals and to then proceed outside, remove all of their clothing and urinate on each other.

I mean.. WTF? How could anyone be that gullible? But.. When someone thinks that they're dealing with someone in a position of authority.. Sometimes.. Rational thought takes a backseat.

Doing the above MIGHT actually be worse than eating KFC.

[44echo]

Originally Posted by yspobo

Kinda reminds me of a scam that was done to a former local restaurant. The place closed later. The caller asked to speak to the manager. Caller said that this customer was a criminal of some sort. I don't remember the details of that. Caller claimed to be law enforcement and it was an emergency. Had the manager basically strip search the customer. The restaurant fired the manager and the other people who were working at the time. Customer filed lawsuit and the paper never mentioned it again. Restaurant was closed down after struggling for a year or so. Fortunately, no one was killed over it. The police never pursued the caller.

People who do things like this need to be prosecuted and locked up. A woman is dead because of what the person did.

I remember that. My memory of it is quite fuzzy, but wasn't it the manager who made one of his employees strip down...following the instructions of the supposed LEO on the phone? I think they were in the backroom office or something.