What scammer said after sending Ohio Uber driver on deadly order
SOUTH CHARLESTON, Ohio (WCMH) — Deputies in Clark County recorded conversations with a scammer they said unintentionally orchestrated a deadly shooting with an Uber order and phone calls.
The scammer had been calling 81-year-old William Brock on March 25, telling him that one of his relatives was in jail and demanding money, according to the sheriff’s office. Separately, the same scammer or an accomplice placed an order on Uber, sending 61-year-old Lo-Letha Hall to pick up a package at Brock’s home west of South Charleston.
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Hall was completely unarmed when she arrived, and wasn’t aware of the calls Brock received before she came there, the sheriff’s office said. A dashcam in her car recorded her trying to leave as Brock followed her and pointed a revolver at her. When deputies came to the home after Brock called and reported a robbery, they found Hall on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds and the elderly man with injuries to his head and ear.
While emergency crews were at the scene, Brock’s phone rang again. Detective Sheila Crews picked it up while a deputy’s bodycam was rolling. After initial greetings and the caller asking who was on the line, they made comments revealing themself as the scammer. The man on the phone spoke without any apparent accent, and the voice did not appear to be computer-generated since he displayed natural stammering.
“May I ask who I’m talking to?” Crews asked.
“Yes, this is the officer speaking,” the scammer said.
“Okay, what officer?” Crews said.
“Yes,” the scammer said.
“No, I need to know what officer, sir,” Crews said.
“You’re gonna be in trouble,” the scammer replied.
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Crews then asked the scammer if he knew Hall, and he said yes. The detective then identified herself as an actual law enforcement official and told them that Hall had been in an “accident.” But when she finished speaking, she realized the phone call had been disconnected.
Another bodycam recording showed the scammer calling Crews back, apologizing that the call disconnected. The scammer inquired further about Hall.
“No, uh, she’s not doing well,” Crews said
“Oh no,” the scammer said.
Crews explained Hall was going to the hospital, and the scammer asked which one. But the detective said the scammer would have to come to Brock’s home to talk to her before she would share that information.
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“Okay, I’m gonna be there, give me 20 minutes?” the scammer asked.
He also asked where Brock was, and Crews said he was talking to the deputies.
The scammer never showed up at Brock’s home, according to the sheriff’s office. It said its team was investigating the scam calls and Uber app order that led to the shooting, and looking for the man or accomplices that coordinated the incident. But as of Tuesday, the sheriff’s office had not shared any new details on the scammer.
Another deputy’s bodycam recorded emergency crews’ attempts to help Hall, as well as interviews with Brock while he sat in a deputy’s car. Medical crews had removed some of the Uber driver’s clothes to treat her gunshot wounds before loading her into an ambulance. Wind blowing on the bodycam’s microphone obscured the majority of Brock’s conversation with deputies, but he could be heard asking if medics were able to stabilize Hall after the shooting.
Hall’s obituary listed her as a Columbus native. Her funeral service took place on April 5 at a church on the Northeast Side.
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Deputies later arrested Brock, and he faces charges including three counts of murder as well as one each of kidnapping and felonious assault, according to an indictment from Clark County Common Pleas Court. The sheriff’s office argued that Hall wasn’t an active threat to Brock, and he made no attempt to call for help during the confrontation either. Investigators accused him of shooting Hall as she tried to get in her car and leave.
Clark County Common Pleas Court records did not show any scheduled appearance for Brock as of Tuesday. However, a pre-trial order filed Friday said the court would issue a notice for pre-trial hearing and jury trial dates in the near future.
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