Uber is helping investigators probe a story that sent a driver to the Ohio home where an 81-year-old man allegedly shot the woman because he wrongly believed she was part of a scam targeting him, a the ride-hailing company said Wednesday. .
The March 25 shooting death of Loletha Hall is “a horrible tragedy” and the account has since been banned, an Uber spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. “Our thoughts continue to be with Loletha’s loved ones in their grief. »
William J. Brock was charged Monday with murder, felonious assault and kidnapping for Hall’s death. Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday for him and for his attorney, Paul Kavanagh of Springfield, Ohio.
The grand jury also said a gun seized from Brock’s home, a .22-caliber revolver, could be forfeited. Brock has pleaded not guilty.
Police said Brock called 911 before noon to say he had shot someone at his South Charleston home, saying Hall had tried to rob him. Investigators later said the driver was unaware of the scam call Brock received with threats and demands for money, citing an incarcerated relative.
Hall “made no threats or assaults toward Mr. Brock, and made no requests, other than to ask about the package she was sent to pick up via the Uber app,” the Clark County Sheriff’s Office in an April 11 news release. The police agency said Brock “pulled out a gun and held her at gunpoint, demanding the identities of the people he spoke with on the phone.”
It’s unclear exactly what the callers told Brock, but the sheriff’s office press release included a reminder, particularly to seniors, that law enforcement and courts do not solicit money for obtain bail “in the manner of this case.”
“We encourage all citizens to exercise extreme caution when unexpectedly contacted by subjects claiming to be loved ones incarcerated in a correctional facility, or claiming to have direct knowledge of loved ones incarcerated in a correctional facility,” warned the sheriff’s office.
The FBI in January issued an alert regarding government identity theft scams that send couriers to the homes of their targets – often elderly people – to collect money or get them to buy gold and other precious metals. The FBI said its Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded that such activity resulted in losses of more than $55 million in the last eight months of 2023.
A 2021 survey of elderly people in the Chicago area found that when a fictitious government agency informed people that their personal information was compromised, those with little awareness of the scams were particularly vulnerable.
Police said Hall’s Uber trip to pick up a package was ordered by the same person who made the scam calls to Brock, or by an accomplice.
Brock is accused of taking Hall’s cell phone and not letting her leave, then shooting her as she tried to get into his vehicle. The sheriff’s office said it was investigating “the initial scam call made to Mr. Brock by the male subject” and the order for the package to be delivered through the app.
Brock shot Hall twice, suffering a minor head injury himself during the confrontation, then called 911, police said. Hall, a Columbus resident who police said was unarmed, later died at a hospital.
He posted $200,000 bond and was released from the Clark County Jail on Wednesday. FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren of the agency’s Cincinnati office said he was aware of the killing but declined to confirm or deny his involvement in the case.
In a obituary in which her name was Lo-Letha “Letha” Toland-Hall, Hall was described as the mother of a son and stepson, a devoted member of her church, and a talented cook known for her delicious pound cakes . She retired from the Ohio Regional Income Tax Agency and also worked in behavioral health, at a school, and for Uber. She studied horticulture at Ohio State and started a janitorial business.
