Florida man points AR-15 in Uber driver's face, forces him to ground for dropping daughter off: deputies

ZeroCool@vger.social to News@lemmy.world – 508 points –
Florida man points AR-15 in Uber driver's face, forces him to ground for dropping daughter off: deputies
fox35orlando.com
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Hollonbeck admitted to his actions and said he was "afraid for his daughter's safety and didn't know who she was with or that she had left without permission," according to the report.

Oh, well if he didn't know then it's perfectly understandable to point a gun at an underpaid taxi driver.

I thought pointing guns at people who you thought wanted to sleep with your daughter was something out of bad jokes and old movies. Apparently not.

I had a old Co worker who told this story... When he was a teenager/early 20s he had several guns and was a member of the gun range. One day he went shooting and came home. Like a good gun owner started cleaning his guns when there was a knock on the door.

He held the shot gun he was holding over his should, several more from pistols to rifles on the table and answered the door.

Unknown to him his younger sister had a first date that night, and he was here to pick her up. Needless to say she was home before curfew and was a complete gentleman to her.

boomer ass story, bud.

Ok well I'm a older melenial and he probably 15 years my senior so yeah late boomer early Gen X...

This is why it's so important to have AR's at arms reach, who knows how this situation could have ended up had he not been armed.

Going to guess he considers himself a responsible gun owner.

Bigfoot, Mothman and the Responsible Gun Owner are my favorite mythological creatures of American folklore.

I actually am a responsible gun owner. I keep my guns locked up when I'm not going to the range, and I store the ammo separately. When I clean my guns, I always check the chamber to verify it is empty. I have been shooting guns since I was about 8, and I've never had a negligent discharge and never will with how anal I am about gun safety.

The only reason I don't carry is that I don't have the money for it right now, and I don't feel I am a good enough shot. I am only confident at 20 to 25 feet.

Well that's good, but even if we are generous and say half the ~80 million gun owners in the US, are as responsible with their weapons as you are; that leaves a fuckton of gun wielders who are not responsible.
I am not outright anti-gun, but it makes no sense to me it took two tests and several weeks of waiting, to get a driver's license; and if I want to do e.g. more than basic electrical or plumbing changes in my home, I should get a permit and there will be an inspection. Yet I could waltz into a store, buy guns like I was a personal army, and at worst I would have to wait a couple days to pick them up. As far as I know, there are 0 requirements or inspections for if you have a gun safe; let alone any form of test or licensing of if you are just barely competent and safe weilding them.

I completely agree with you on everything you said. I would say that out of every gun owner I have ever met, I would say less than 10% of them have the emotional temperament to own a gun, let alone the ability or the knowledge to keep it safely locked up.

There should 100% be tests, and you should need to have a license to even own a gun, and almost no one needs to own one. It truly is absolutely ridiculous how easy it is to buy one in the usa. I don't understand why anyone is against gun control other than them owning stock in gun companies ir the nra ir not giving a shit about other people.

And can I just say I don't get why people are so quick to downvote my other comment for what seems like no reason at all.

Because every gun owner thinks they're a responsible gun owner. Everyone is until they do something stupid and to act like you aren't capable of making a mistake is naive. The problem is your mistake has deadly consequences. You can make the same argument for cars except driving isn't a hobby in the US its a need. Like you said no one needs to own a gun.

I said almost no one needs one. There are still people who do need firearms. I'm not in that category anymore.

I fully recognize I can and do make dumb mistakes in my life, which is why I am so anal about gun safety. I make a show of me checking the chamber or cylinder. I make it known to anyone in the house that I am removing a gun from its case and unlocking it. I ask others to double-check the guns for me to ensure they are unloaded, and even then, they are never pointed in the direction of someone. Lack of respect for the dangers of firearms leads to negligence and negligence kills.

Provides evidence for responsible gun ownership

Lemmy: Time to downvote this person for neutralizing one of my arguments.

There's definitely self-selection happening. A paranoid individual is more likely to feel the need to buy a gun. A person who wants control over others is more likely to feel that same need. A person with malicious or suicidal intent is more likely to feel that same need.

Meanwhile, it's entirely a coin-toss on whether a sane, responsible individual actually feels like they can/should own a firearm. I think as we get into worse civil unrest, we will inevitably see more individuals feel that they have no choice but to arm themselves, but for the time being it's going to the less savory folks rushing to buy.

I'm more of a Jersey Devil fan myself, could do without the gun owners and bootleg yetis.

Every gun owner is a responsible gun owner until they aren't.

No, no they aren't. Some people were never responsible gun owners to begin with, regardless of anyone's beliefs around guns.

Most people I know I wouldn't even trust with a grilled cheese sandwich.

dude i have fucked up the roof of my mouth on more than 1 grilled cheese

If one grilled cheese is a problem, have you tried cutting them in half? Diagonally only, of course.

Let me revise it then- Every responsible gun owner is a responsible gun owner until they aren't.

What a dumbass... and as bad as this is... it gets WORSE:

https://www.wesh.com/article/milton-florida-dad-gun-uber/60744321

“That vehicle was completely unmarked. In my mind, this was not good, right?" Dr. Sean Hollonbeck told WEAR News.

I can't say I've seen an unmarked Uber or Lyft car, generally they're very good about displaying one or both signs, so doubting this statement from the jump.

“I served 31 years, I was an Army doctor, I trained as a Navy flight surgeon, I served with the 7th Special Forces Group, I served with the 160th," Hollonbeck said. "I served six tours.”

Then you should know better.

https://weartv.com/news/local/milton-dad-accomplished-veteran-tells-his-side-in-uber-driver-gun-case-involving-daughter

"And everybody knows what’s going on in this country with fentanyl and child trafficking and rape. Terrible stuff.”

If they were engaging in child trafficking, why would they be bringing her BACK to your house? 🤔

“In this country you’re innocent until proven guilty,"

You mean, like the Uber driver?

I didn't even know marked ubers were an expectation. Here you'd be hard pressed to find a marked one.

I just went to Vegas and probably took 30 ubers while there. Almost none had signs. One had a police license plate though lol

I think there's a lot more to this guy's relationship with his daughter. She had other friends at the house and hadn't told him she'd left. She also went inside and left during this confrontation. Sounds like a very strained relationship for many reasons - eg I wonder how many times he's threatened her with a gun etc

Massive disclaimer before this whole paragraph that this person's actions are abhorrent and totally unjustified. Just want to provide some perspective on a single relatively minor point.

Regarding the unmarked uber it's actually more common than you'd think. In some cities uber will send you a little decal you're meant to put in the windshield of your car, but it could easily be missed and some drivers who maybe only drive a couple times a month may choose to not have that on display everywhere they go. Uber actually states that you're only supposed to have it installed while you're active in the app, but I don't think it would last very long if you peeled it off and stored it in your car or on a shelf every time you needed to go to the grocery store let alone if you drive for personal reasons on a daily basis. Personally when I was driving uber with that decal provided I chose to just keep it on my windshield, but there's no enforcement of that policy unless people scanned all your windows before getting in and decided that your license plate matching the app wasn't enough evidence to get in your car.

In the previous city I drove uber (albeit it was only around 80k population) they didn't provide any sort of markings. Plenty of uber drivers had signs, but those light up signs in particular are actually sold by third parties and as a result you need to pay out of pocket to get one. While I did choose to invest in a phone mount which is about the same price, I refused on principle to use my own money to buy signage.

So in short I can assure you that there are plenty of uber drivers in unmarked cars, either due to signage which doesn't meet drivers' needs or a lack of any signage provided by uber.

For the sticker thing, we had this solution waaaaaaay back in the day when I was in college...

Parking sticker had to be displayed, but if you didn't want to permanently mount it to one car, you did this:

Take the lid off a casette tape case, put the sticker on that, put the lid on the dashboard. Take it with you when you don't need it.

I guess nowadays you'd use the lid off a CD case. :)

What's a CD?

What’s a CD?

I believe it refers to a “Certificate of Deposit,” a type of savings account that pays a fixed interest rate on money held for an agreed upon period of time.

You'd need a 45 sleeve for this sticker haha. That's a clever idea though. I'll probably use that if I ever need a parking sticker again.

In Europe, some cars have a plastic clip on the windshield, where you can put stuff in it(parking permits, etc).

The more he describes himself, the more cocaine I think fueled his actions. That’s like 4 lines of self aggrandizement there, maybe a bump after.

What do you want to bet in all these stories the victim isn't white? Lol

Someone who did this is a medical doctor. I mean he lives in Florida but still, you would think he'd at least ask first.

No wonder the daughter leaves the house without his permission or knowledge. Hes a fucking lunatic.

Probably not an amazing parent if his 13yo daughter is sneaking out to do God knows what. I get being upset, but I'm sure you could talk to the Uber driver or God forbid your own daughter to figure out where she's been.

wtf happened to simply talking to people?

Poor daughter. I hope she reminds daddy later on why she does never visit.

When you have a gun, especially a "manly" gun like an AR-15, you some people start having intrusive thoughts and desire to use it.

Same with police. If you dress up for war and talk up an us/them mentality eventually it boils over to what we have today. Many cops (not all) are just playing dress-up so they can play war.

I’ve [fired a gun] a lot in movies, but there are too many guns in the real world. I know people with guns, and they always say the same thing. “If somebody breaks into my house, I have to be able to defend myself.” But what they’re really saying is, “I hope somebody breaks into my house so I can use this thing.” It’s so wrong.

Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken always has been one of the good guys.

"I suppose I think of the man I'm playing as bisexual, and I suppose that's how I think of myself too. I'd hate to think that I was harnessed to heterosexuality. I mean, my life is heterosexual, but I like to think that my head is bisexual, and I think it's a good idea for everybody to start getting used to that notion, because that way one becomes aware of a lot more things."

that was 1973 - it doesn't get more progressive than that for that time.

Wow I didn't consider this at all. When I consider my own gun ownership and acquiring a pistol or rifle, I've literally never thought, "but what if I start itching to use it." I'm more concerned with "where the fuck would I keep this away from little hands, with ammo locked somewhere else, in a practical way to go grab it all and assemble between hearing an intruder and interfacing with them.. okay, this is dumb. I'm not getting guns"

This is why you wouldn't do what this guy did.

Kyle Rittenhouse is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. He took his AR-15 and drove half an hour to "protect businesses" that he had no stake in. He armed himself and then deliberately embroiled himself in a tense, riotous situation. While he might not have done anything technically illegal, he was clearly spoiling for an opportunity to brandish and use that weapon.

Yeah, and now the GOP acts like that little dipshit is some kind of fucking hero.

Sadly, that modicum of thought you put into it, is 10000 times more thought than most "responsible gun owners" actually muster

When policing started including less-than-lethal alternatives for eliminating/subduing a threat, cops stopped killing as many people.

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And while you may not operate that way, gen pop does, even trained “professionals”

The intrusive thoughts are very real. I used to carry due to driving in bad areas, but also because so many hillbillies also carried.

Someone cuts you off and it’s like the weapon whispers to you. “Why are you taking that? Fuck them, you have a gun, you don’t need to take that shit.” It’s not a real voice, just your mind being a primate.

It's the escalation of fear in the US. We're force fed fear by the news, media, and Hollywood. Everything is tension and violence.

Long way of saying "We need guns because we're the biggest bunch of fucking cowards on the planet"

😂

I find this relevant, how we are less connected with those that provide services: https://youtu.be/q1jRx6VzzhI

Think about how you transform behind the wheel. This morning, at the buzzer for school dropoff. Three of us at stop sign fighting to go through first to grab street parking.. all end up parking together bc we're in the same community at the same school.. the woman who angrily gestured at me for doing nothing wrong... Same friend who's kid I carpooled in the morning last week. She probably had no idea it was me. And I don't feel any differently about her bc I get it.

Because everything is through an app now. God forbid you call a cab or the restaurant directly to order your food?

I get pizza every other week from my local pizza joint. Delivery driver is always the same and I know a shit app like Uber eats isn't taking a cut for jack shit.

The problem is we want more for less. People need to understand for the things they want they have to pay more and we aren't there yet. People don't give a shit. They want cheap and disposable.

God forbid you call a cab or the restaurant directly to order your food?

Most restaurants do not deliver and I think its honestly ridiculous to call a cab to go to and back to a restaurant when delivery services exist. If you happen to live in one of the rare places that have good public transit that's a great option though.

Hollonbeck admitted to his actions and said he was "afraid for his daughter's safety and didn't know who she was with or that she had left without permission," according to the report.

And yet again this shows that people cannot use guns responsibly, guns must be prohibited. The US could be such a nice place...

The US could be such a nice place...

Not really. You'd still have way too many stupid and hateful people.

They'd just be slightly less dangerous stupid and hateful people.

(And yes, I do mean slightly, but am not going to go more into details of the other methodology with much higher body counts that the hatred of small minded folks have taken over the years.)

Not really. You'd still have way too many stupid and hateful people.

I'd gladly take an unarmed stupid, hateful people over this

And yes, I do mean slightly, but am not going to go more into details of the other methodology with much higher body counts that the hatred of small minded folks have taken over the years

Apologist bullshit. There is no reality where this man threatens an Uber driver with a truck bomb. Even when talking about domestic terrorism, bombs are far more effort with far more risk, which is why they're not already used.

Oh man, Florida Man armed with grenades would make same amazing headlines.

They'd just be slightly less dangerous stupid and hateful people.

Which is the point?

Stupid and hateful people just not having guns does not "a nice place" make.

An asshole will always be an asshole but an asshole without an AR-15 is less dangerous to everyone else. I stand by what I said.

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I dunno, I reckon they'd be a lot quieter if there's an actual danger of physical harm to themselves.

Guns make people too eager to do crazy shit. You're not going to try to force somebody out of their car with a flick-knife.

You're not going to try to force somebody out of their car with a flick-knife

In countries that don't just give guns to anyone who can write their name, carjacking is functionally unheard of. It's just not a crime that happens. If the criminal doesn't have a gun, you can just drive away.

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Hollonbeck admitted to his actions and said he was "afraid for his daughter's safety

The kidnappers are dropping our own children off at our on front door?

Cocks gun

Not today.

The “afraid for [person]’s safety” line is because it covers his ass for any self-defense stuff. Because now his lawyer can claim that his use of force was justified, because he believed his daughter was in danger.

It’s textbook Concealed Carry stuff. Pretty much any CCW class will teach that if you ever need to use your weapon, you only tell the responding cops three things: 1) I believed my life (or the life of someone else) was in danger. 2) Someone was shot, and then I called 911 and began rendering aid. 3) I’m invoking my fifth amendment right to remain silent, and my sixth amendment right to an attorney. After that, you shut the fuck up and wait for your lawyer.

Basically, the cops are going to find out who fired the gun eventually. So instead of hiding it, (which makes you look guilty) simply claim it was self-defense and then let your lawyer handle the rest. Because now the prosecutor has to prove that it wasn’t self defense, which is much harder than simply proving you pulled the trigger. Because (depending on the local laws, of course,) self defense often only requires that you believed your life was in danger. Whether or not that belief was accurate is irrelevant. So as long as you’re able to stick to your very simple “I believed my life was in danger” story, you’ll likely be able to walk away.

It’s the same shit abusers and PR firms do when shit hits the fan. Instead of waiting for the cops to bust your door in with a warrant, you get in front of the situation and reframe the scenario so it suits you. Dead men tell no tales, so tell your tale loudly and make the dead man look fucking awful. Frame the person you shot as the aggressor, and yourself as the scared victim. You had no choice but to use your weapon, because you were just so scared. That mean (dead) attacker was scaring you, and forced your hand. You flip the script, and the cops will let you go.

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Oh, I get it now. THAT'S why we need to be able to own assault rifles.

Also remember kids, if someone voluntarily signs up to get paid to go kill people, they're not to be revered, they are mercenaries.

was the driver...non-white perhaps?

Not sure. But for all the talk about how antiwoman these people are they are pretty antiman too and assume any man is a danger to them. Would help us a lot of we looked at it that way, but we don't.

Nah, see, the way they see it, that Uber driver isn't a human being

You just clinched your interview for Uber upper management

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The young female was still in the vehicle when she saw her father run up to the driver with an AR-15 in hand and force him to the ground, according to an arrest report.

The ONLY ONLY ONLY WAY to PREVENT this is if the CAB DRIVER SHOT the man BEFORE He could do this!

Some gun owners look for any reason to use their gun. Smh.

Send these idiots off to fight a war. They will have all the chances to use their gun. most will probably be better off used as sandbags

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Lose Your Right To Own Firearms And Surrender A Few Years Of Your Incredibly Short Life In One Easy Step!

Pfft. This is Florida, Desantis is going to make him attorney general within the week.

I wish this were true in practice.

I have been dealing with a crazy ex-friend who as it turns out is a felon who was already dinged for gun possession from a previous felony and now that I have new evidence of it happening again the police do not care at all, even though he harasses me constantly from different phone numbers every day.

Wasn’t there a post just yesterday about a study saying people are more apprehensive of their neighbors when their neighbors have this type of gun?

Yeah, this is why.

And yeah yeah yeah, any random crazy person could have any random gun. But when you see your neighbor loading up with these guns you kinda know they are extra crazy.

I guarantee you the ar-15 owner is a Fox News watcher. It would explain his paranoia and fear of strangers.

Are these people living in real dangerous areas or are they just convinced any unexpected car entering their driveway is out to murder them?

Second similar article in a short period, the other was a pizza delivery that went to the wrong address and got shot at.

Reading between the lines here, it sounds like what happened is the daughter left the house without permission and that pissed off daddy. So he decided to wait by the door with his gun until she came home and then shove a gun into the face of whatever guy dropped her off. I guess he forgot Uber exists. He probably thought a friend or boyfriend was fropping her off.

They THINK they live in a dangerous place. What they don't understand is it's technically true. They are the danger to the neighborhood.

Most liberals and progressives I know own AR-15’s because so many conservatives own them, only it’s the conservatives planning on rounding up everyone that doesn’t look and think like them to be executed.

they fantasize about shooting an invader so much that the first person they see becomes an opportunity. people have shot family members who come home in an unexpected manner or at an unexpected time. they own guns with the hope that one day they can kill someone and feel like Eastwood or whatever.

Someone who walks around with a hammer all day will eventually find a nail.

especially someone who fetishizes hammers

Hey I mean if you invested in a gun instead of supplying the needs of your family you'd also be looking for an opportunity to blast the damn thing

I guarantee that these people have never lived in the ghetto. People who pull guns on the regular have more morals and honor than these wannabe cowboys.

People who pull guns on the regular do not have morals and honour lmao

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This is what happens when you aren't the type of adult or parent a kid can trust or have faith in. Hopefully the kid doesn't go down the wrong path because of this behavior.

You can take the guns out of the picture and it's still shitty. You will never reach a friend or person by acting like this.

Hope he learns and understands and is able to move on.

Bruh put a gun in a man’s face. He ain’t learnin shit.

Presumably she's old enough to have a phone and order an Uber. I'm guessing the father's taking the phone away (nothing she did).

Y'know, everything else aside it is profoundly inappropriate for rideshare contractors to be driving unaccompanied minors. They are not background checked at all the same way taxi drivers need to be. I'm kind of shocked uber allows it and that drivers feel comfortable with it. Obviously first and foremost this is an incredibly irresponsible (and dangerous to society) parent but holy shit, a rideshare corporation go ahead is not adequate for a kid to get into a strangers car.

Ok, it didn't sit right with me (still doesnt) so I looked up how the heck this is even allowed. Turns out Uber in their infinite wisdom is allowing teens 13-17 to make uber profiles in select cities. Personally I am far from ok with that BUT, I did find out some relevant information. Turns out you can only create an uber account as a teen if the account is linked to a guardians uber account that gives you permission, and gives notifications and live trip tracking to that guardian. So this absolute clown is either lying or when his kid went missing he reached for his gun before and without reaching for his phone and actually checking his notifications to see if his parent tracking stuff knew anything about where his kid was, or maybe a friends parents knew where she was or even the police. Nope, just got the gun even though he would have had to have known his kid had an uber account and that he had access to its tracking.

Look, anyone who jumps to threatening deadly force without first having their own life threatened is making multiple layers of mistakes. They're the aggressor in that situation.