Uber Driver Shoots Man Who Threatened His Life [VIDEO]
An Uber driver in Central Florida stood his ground and killed a man who threatened to shoot him.
According to the Polk County Sheriff's office, 34-year-old Jason Boek followed an Uber he thought was driving his girlfriend home after a "heated text message exchange." Dash cam video shows Boek exiting his pick-up truck and quickly walking toward the Uber driver.
A CNN report says Boek raised his hand, saying:
You know I got a pistol? You want me to f****** shoot you?
The report goes on to say that the Uber driver, 38-year-old Robert Westlake fired his .40 caliber pistol once from his Hyundai Elantra, killing Boek. As if the details of the story aren't bizarre enough, Boek's girlfriend wasn't even in the Uber.
At a bar in Dundee early Tuesday morning, Boek's girlfriend called an Uber for another woman who had too much to drink, and she helped her get out to the car, police said. Boek saw her and assumed his girlfriend had gotten into the Uber, though she had gone back into the bar, the sheriff said.
That's when the heated texting began. Sheriff Grady Judd described Boek as "explosive."
He's stalking his girlfriend. He's angry with her and he tells her 'I'm going to eff up the Uber driver.'
According to law enforcement, Boek tailed the Uber driver after taking off after them in his truck. He then pulled up beside the car, began to pass him up, then forced him to make a complete stop in the roadway. Police released the dash cam video containing the moment that Westlake shot him.
Westlake is a licensed armed security guard with a concealed weapons permit who just completed his training to become a law enforcement officer. While on the 911 call, Westlake told the operator he was applying pressure to the wound while Boek was taking "faint, shallow breaths."
Unfortunately, Boek died at the scene.
This is a classic case of Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' law that grants immunity to a person acting in self-defense. Sheriff Judd says this case is a "justifiable homicide all day long" and described the situation as "the intent of the law."
Here's a message for the hotheads of the community: Don't do that stuff. Good people carry guns and they will shoot you. A lot. Graveyard dead.
Uber released a statement saying they were "saddened by this unfortunate incident and will continue to work with police on their investigation."