An 81-year-old Ohio man has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting an Uber driver who thought she was picking up a package from the man's house. Both appeared to have been victims of scam phone calls, the Clark County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
Investigators discovered that Brock had earlier received a scam call about an incarcerated relative, which had involved threats and demands for money.
An unknown man told Brock over the phone he needed to pay $12,000 to get his nephew out of jail, according to a police report. Brock told police the caller threatened to kill him and his nephew if he didn't pay the ransom, the report said.
The same caller, or an accomplice, later hired Hall using the Uber app to pick up a package from Brock's residence, according to investigators. Hall was not aware that Brock had been threatened, the sheriff's office. said.
"Ms. Hall, suffering from medical conditions and unarmed, made no threats or assaults toward Mr. Brock, and made no demands, other than to ask about the package she was sent to retrieve," the sheriff's office said.
Brock allegedly held Hall at gunpoint and demanded to know the identities of the people who had called him. He also took Hall's phone and refused to allow her to leave, officials said, adding that Brock did not try to call police at this point.
When Hall tried to get back into her vehicle, Brock allegedly shot her, and there was a "subsequent scuffle at the door of Ms. Hall's vehicle," the sheriff's office said. Brock then allegedly shot her two more times, before calling 911.