Off-duty security officer, Uber driver fatally shoots attacker
Polk County FL Aug 30 2018
Jason Boek didn’t have a gun, but the Uber driver did.
He uttered his last words in near-pitched darkness along a rural road in Winter Haven.
“You know I’ve got a pistol,” he said, lifting his cell phone like a gun as he approached the car. “You want me to f—ing shoot you!”
The driver, 38-year-old Robert Westlake, shot him once in the chest, then called for help as he tried to administer aid.
Boek, 34, of Winter Haven, died at the scene.
“This is justifiable homicide all day long,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “You have the right to protect yourself. This is a textbook stand your ground case. This is a classic. This was the intent of the law.”
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Boek tried to run Westlake off the road as they drove down Dundee Road in Winter Haven just before 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Boek thought his estranged girlfriend was Westlake’s passenger. She wasn’t.
Boek’s girlfriend had been drinking at the Grove Lounge on U.S. 27 in Winter Haven, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Text messages between Boek and the woman show the beginnings of the fatal confrontation.
Boek’s messages indicate the two were drinking at the bar together. He said he left to watch and see what she’d do. She told him she didn’t need a ride and he said he was still there watching her. The Sheriff’s Office said he had borrowed a Ford F-250 from a friend. Boek told the woman he’d cause “mayham (sic)” if he saw her with another man. He threatened to beat the Uber driver up.
What Boek didn’t know, the Sheriff’s Office said, was that his girlfriend and a bartender were also helping a drunk woman get home from the bar. Boek’s girlfriend called her an Uber and walked her outside. That’s who got into the back of Westlake’s Hyundai Elantra, not the woman Boek thought.
Nevertheless, Boek followed the car, driving erratically behind it as they passed Carl Floyd Road, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He pulled up next to the car, then cut it off before forcing both cars to a stop.
He got out and took his final steps.
Again, Judd said, what Boek didn’t know hurt him. Judd said Westlake is not only a concealed weapon permit holder and licensed armed security guard, but also recently completed certification to qualify for a job as a police officer in the state of Florida.
Westlake’s dash cam video shows how the incident transpired in just a few seconds.
“That’s how quick you have to decide if you want to live, or die as the victim,” Judd said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, neither Boek’s girlfriend, Westlake nor his passenger knew one another.
