Sheriff Calls Shooting By Uber Driver Classic Stand Your Ground

DUNDEE, FL -- An Uber driver shot and killed a man Tuesday, Aug. 28, after the man chased him down and threatened to shoot him first, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

He said the incident began shortly after 2 a.m. at the Grove Lounge on U.S. 27 in Dundee.

The bartender and a woman customer called an Uber driver to take an intoxicated woman home. When the Uber driver arrived, the bartender and customer helped the tipsy woman into the car.

Shortly after, the helpful customer’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Jason Boek, 34, of Winter Haven, called her and got the mistaken impression that she was the one in the Uber, although she was still in the lounge.

He became angry and began sending messages to his girlfriend, threatening her and the Uber driver.

Still under the impression that his girlfriend was in the Uber, Boek reportedly chased down the Uber driver’s Hyundai Elantra in a a Ford F250 pickup truck he borrowed, flashed his headlights, passed the Uber and then pulled in front of the car, forcing it to stop on Dundee Road near Carl Floyd Road and County Road 550 in unincorporated Polk County, said Judd.

When the Uber driver, Robert Westlake, 38, stopped. Boek jumped out of the truck and shouted, “You know I got a pistol. You want me to f ****king shoot you?”

Judd said Boek then reached into his waist band and pulled out a black cellphone, making it look as if he was pulling a gun.

Westlake pulled out a real gun and shot Boek in the chest, said Judd.

Westlake has a license to carry a concealed weapon. He’s a licensed security guard and attended the police academy.

The confrontation was captured on Westlake’s dashboard camera.

Westlake called 911 and tried to “contain the bleeding and give him CPR,” Judd said. However, Boek died from the gunshot wound.

“Here’s a message to the hot heads of the community,” said Judd during a press conference. “Don’t mess with an Uber driver. Leave the Uber driver alone because he just may be a certified police officer in waiting.”

Judd called this a “textbook Stand Your Ground case.”

“This is a justifiable homicide all day long,” he said. “You have the right to protect yourself .. This is a classic. This was the intent of the law."

Boek's criminal history includes aggravated battery, burglary, marijuana possession, forgery, larceny and resisting arrest. At the time of his death, he was on felony probation for battery.

When deputies searched the pickup truck, they found no gun but did find marijuana and a glass pipe with methamphetamine residue.

Videos via Polk Sheriff

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