Newly released bodycam footage shows the moment officers confront a “con artist” whose alleged scheme ended with an Ohio homeowner shooting and killing an Uber driver.
William Brock, 81, is accused of murdering Lo-Letha Toland-Hall, 61, after mistakenly believing she was a con man.
Brock told police he had been receiving threatening phone calls all day before Toland-Hall arrived and has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
Detective Cruz of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office spoke with the alleged scammer on the phone after the fatal shooting, images obtained by ABC showed.
“Can I ask who I’m talking to?” Cruz asked the unknown scammer over the phone in a conversation caught on camera.
Newly released bodycam footage shows the moment officers confront a ‘con artist’ whose alleged scheme ended with an Ohio homeowner fatally shooting an Uber driver
Clark County Sheriff’s Office Detective Cruz spoke with the alleged scammer on the phone after the fatal shooting
The scammer tried to tell Cruz that he was a police officer himself, but they had no answer to the question ‘which officer’.
When she insists on a name, the man dodges her question and tells her, “You’re going to get in trouble.”
She then asks if he knows the victim he sent to Brock’s house, and he confirms that he does.
According to a police report, the number was registered to telephone company Bell Mobility in Canada.
Cruz told the scammer over the phone that the lady sent to Brock’s property “had an accident.”
Despite agreeing to meet with authorities, the scammer never showed up and is still not csomething.
Police said the driver was also an unwitting victim of a scam after being sent to Brock’s home in South Charleston via the Uber app to “pick up a package.”
Video shows Brock calmly explaining to a police officer how he had spent “a few hours” on the phone with a man who claimed he had a cousin in jail who needed bail money.
Bodycam footage shows the moment an elderly Ohio man is confronted by police after shooting and killing an Uber driver
William Brock, 81, was seen explaining to police how he had received threatening phone calls all day before the fatal shooting and believed the victim was a scammer
Lo-Letha Toland-Hall, 61, (pictured) was shot by William Brock, 81, on March 25 in the rural town of South Charleston, located between Columbus and Cincinnati
“I’m sure glad to see you guys here because I spent a few hours on the phone with this guy trying to say I had a cousin in jail, had a wreck in Charleston, I just hung around and had a band needed money and this woman had to do that […] I feel like I’m getting different stories,” Brock tells an officer.
The officer then pats him on the back before gently placing him in the back of a police car after a quick pat.
Another angle shows officers sprinting to Brock’s house after the shooting. There are several police cars outside with their sirens blaring.
Brock pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murder, assault and kidnapping during a court hearing in Clark County District Court.
Brock pleaded not guilty to murder in Clark County court on Wednesday
Brock later told police that scammers had called him threateningly demanding money — and the same fraudsters called the Uber to his house to “pick up a package.”
He previously told police that the scammer had demanded $12,000 and threatened his life and that of his family.
A chilling 911 call after the fatal shooting shows Brock explaining how he was inundated with threatening phone calls before Toland-Hall’s arrival.
“He told me he was going to kill me, my family and everyone else,” Brock explains.
Toland-Hall’s harrowing final moments on March 25 were also captured by her dashcam, which remained running during the confrontation.
She didn’t know the older man was being targeted and thought the job was legitimate, police said.
When she came to pick up the package, Brock shockingly pulled out a gun and demanded she identify who sent her.
He also allegedly took away her phone and didn’t let her leave. A scuffle broke out between the two, with Brock shooting Toland-Hall at least three times.
She suffered injuries to the upper left side of her torso, her left thigh, the inside of her left knee and the mid-mass of her sternum.
Toland-Hall was trying to return to her car when Brock shot her. She can also be heard screaming in pain as Brock threatened to “shoot the other leg.”
Brock said she attacked him after he fired the first shot by hitting his head on the car door.
Dashcam footage from inside the taxi shows Brock pointing a gun at Toland-Hall during the deadly confrontation
Toland-Hall, 61, was an Uber driver who was called to pick up a package from William Brock’s home. Police believe she was a victim of the same scammer
He shot her again when she tried to escape, because he said he thought she was about to retrieve a gun of her own.
Brock told the officers — “without being asked,” as they put it — that Hall was there to “take.” [my] money.’
“He indicated he did not want to shoot her, but thought she was going to kill him,” the incident report said.
The mother of one from Columbus, Ohio was rushed to the hospital but died during surgery.
“This is a horrific tragedy and our hearts remain with Lo-Letha’s loved ones as they mourn,” Uber said in a statement.
“We have been in contact with police and remain committed to supporting their investigation.”