Florida man walks free after ‘shooting at’ Instacart drivers who went to wrong home
Police close case saying ‘each party appear justified in their actions’, but state attorney calls for full investigation
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No arrests have been made after two teen Instacart delivery drivers in Florida said they were shot at by a middle-aged man for mistakenly entering his property.
The incident comes on the heels of the shooting of Black teen Ralph Yarl after he rung the doorbell at a wrong home. The incident sparked anger among the Black community as a prosecutor said there was a “racial component” to the case.
Waldes Thomas Jr and his girlfriend Diamond Darville, both 19, were making deliveries at Southwest Ranches in Broward County before 10pm on 15 April when they got lost and entered the property of a man while looking for the correct address, according to a Davie Police Department report.
Police said the reason for no arrests was that both sides had given a conflicting account of events.
The couple told police they “got shot at” after the homeowner warned them to leave. The homeowner, however, said the couple was driving erratically and ran over his foot. No one was injured by the gunfire.
The owner of the two-acre property at a semi-rural neighbourhood told officers that after a 2014 Honda Civic entered his property, he asked his son to tell the driver to leave. But he heard his boy yelling for help and saw the car driving erratically, banging into logs and boulders.
He said the car came towards him and ran over his foot. Fearing for his and his son’s life, he said he drew his handgun and fired at the tires before the vehicle sped away.
Police arrived to find Mr Thomas and Ms Darville, who told officials that “we just got shot at”.
A police officer said Ms Darville was crying and Mr Thomas appeared “extremely nervous and scared”. “I said, ‘We got to go, we got to go’,” Mr Darville told WTVJ. “I was scared, I’m not going to lie.”
Following the conflicting account of events by both parties, the Davie police closed the case, saying no charges would be filed because “each party appear justified in their actions based on the circumstances they perceived”.
Police said they returned the shooter’s gun after the case was closed.
Broward County state attorney Harold Pryor, however, said he has contacted the Davie police to request a full investigation.
He said his prosecutors will decide whether charges should be filed against the homeowner.