(USNewsMag.com) – An elderly Ohio man who shot an Uber driver in front of his home has been charged with kidnapping, assault, and murder after a strange ordeal involving a telephone scammer.
On Monday, April 15th, 81-year-old William Brock was indicted before a grand jury on three murder counts, along with one count of kidnapping and one of felonious assault.
On Monday, March 25th, Brock shot 61-year-old Loletha Hall in the driveway of his residence as a result of a puzzling series of events indicating both Brock and Hall were victims of a scam, the motivation of which is still unclear to law enforcement. According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Brock told investigators that he received a call from someone pretending to be a local court officer in what he believed to be a scam, and when Hall showed up he thought she was working with the man who called.
Lt. Kristopher Shultz said that Brock received a “scam call” from someone claiming to be from the court and informing Brock that one of his family members had been incarcerated and needed him to post bond. As Brock probed further, the caller eventually claimed the family member was instead being held hostage and demanded ransom.
Hall came onto the scene after someone, who may have been an accomplice of the caller, hired her on Uber to retrieve a package at Brock’s residence. When she showed up, Brock confronted Hall with his gun drawn, tried to grab her phone, and wrestled with her as she tried to get back into her car to leave while telling him to “stop” and threatening to call 911. Brock shot her three times during the scuffle and called 911 himself to report what happened, claiming the incident had been an attempted robbery.
Some of the incident was visually captured on Hall’s dashcam, and all of the audio. After shooting Hall the first time, they continued to fight and Brock suffered a head injury. He shot her a second time, after which more conversation ensued, and then a third time before reporting the incident. Hall never assaulted or threatened the 81-year-old, nor did she have a weapon.
First responders took Hall to the hospital where she later died in surgery. Shultz said the package Hall was supposed to pick up was the ransom money, unbeknownst to her.
Brock is being held with a bond of $200,000. He could face imprisonment for 15 years to life if convicted, or a $15,000 fine.
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