WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — An Uber driver in Florida claimed self-defense after he fatally shot a man who trailed his car and tried run him off the road, authorities said Wednesday. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death early Tuesday of 34-year-old Jason Boek of Winter Haven, Florida. “This is a classic stand-your-ground case,” said Sheriff Grady Judd, speaking at a news conference. The sheriff’s office said an enraged Boek, believing his estranged girlfriend was the Uber’s passenger, aggressively trailed the car of 38-year-old driver Robert Westlake. A dash camera video posted to YouTube by the sheriff shows Boek driving erratically and attempting to run Westlake off a central Florida road. Once both vehicles were stopped, Boek got out of a large pickup truck and threatened to shoot the driver, according to the sheriff. Unknown to Boek, the Uber driver was a concealed-weapon permit holder and a recent police academy graduate. The sheriff said Westlake fired one shot, striking Boek. The Uber driver then called authorities and attempted to revive Boek. Authorities said Westlake has cooperated with police. Westlake did not know Boek, nor did the passenger. According to authorities, the passenger who had been drinking was escorted into the Uber by Boek’s on-and-off-again girlfriend. Boek apparently mistakenly believed his estranged girlfriend was in the vehicle, Judd said. Boek threatened to assault both the passenger and the driver, according to text messages released by police. Boek had an extensive criminal history, according to a news release issued by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. He was on probation until June of 2021 for a 2016 felony battery charge. Police found a glass pipe containing methamphetamine residue inside the truck driven by Boek before the shooting. “At the end of the day, the message is clear,” said Judd. “Don’t mess with the Uber driver.”<doc-sep>Michael Dunn reacts after the verdict is read in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday, Feburary 15. Marissa Alexander, who fired a gun in self-defense against her abusive husband, is hoping the "stand your ground law" protects her. A still photo from a surveillance camera showing what police describe as Michael Drejka shooting Markies McGlockton on July 19, 2018. Victim's girlfriend: He didn't have to go like this A still photo from a surveillance camera showing what police describe as Michael Drejka shooting Markies McGlockton on July 19, 2018. (CNN) — After a heated text message exchange with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Jason Boek followed an Uber he thought was giving her a ride home. Driving along a dark stretch of two-lane road in central Florida, Boek swerved his pickup truck early Tuesday morning in front of the rideshare car. Uber driver Robert Westlake slammed on his brakes. They narrowly avoided a crash and stopped in the middle of the roadway. Then, Boek jumped out of his truck and quickly walked toward Westlake’s Hyundai Elantra. “You know I got a pistol?” Boek said, holding an object in the air. “You want me to f****** shoot you?” Bang. With one shot, the Uber driver killed him. The fatal confrontation, captured on Westlake’s dash camera, was what the Polk County sheriff called a “classic ‘stand your ground’ case,” referring to the controversial Florida law that grants immunity to people acting in self-defense. “This is a justifiable homicide all day long. You have the right protect yourself,” Sheriff Grady Judd said Wednesday. “This was the intent of the law.” But the incident still left Westlake, 38, shaken up and filled with doubt. “Everybody tells me what I did was right, but you feel like, ‘did I have to?’ after the fact,” he told CNN affiliate WFTS. “I wish the whole chain of events didn’t happen,” he added. Boek, 34, didn’t actually have a firearm when he left his truck – he was holding a cell phone, authorities said. And Westlake was no ordinary Uber driver. He’s a licensed armed security guard who holds a concealed weapon permit and who had just completed training to be a police officer. “All that went through my head was I’m not getting shot and that’s when I popped up,” he said. In a text message to CNN, Westlake expressed condolences to Boek’s family. The sheriff’s office said Westlake is cooperating with the investigation. And the sheriff wanted this much to be clear: “Here’s a message for the hotheads of the community: Don’t do that stuff,” Judd said. “Good people carry guns and they will shoot you. A lot. Graveyard dead.” Boek’s family members could not be reached Wednesday for comment. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday it is not planning to bring a case against Westlake, but the investigation remains open pending the results of Boek’s autopsy. The sheriff’s office said the findings will be forwarded to the Office of State Attorney Brian Haas, whose jurisdiction includes Polk County. Assistant State Attorney Jacob Orr said prosecutors will review the investigation. He declined to comment further. ’He’s stalking his girlfriend’ The shooting is the latest high-profile “stand your ground” case to spark controversy. The list includes the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012 by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, and Michael Drejka’s fatal shooting of Markeis McGlockton in July in a convenience store parking lot. Zimmerman was acquitted in Martin’s death after claiming self-defense, rather than leaning on the “stand your ground” law. Drejka was initially let go but has since been charged with manslaughter. Tuesday’s incident started with a case of mistaken identity. At a bar in Dundee, Florida, early Tuesday morning, Boek’s girlfriend called an Uber for another woman who’d had too much to drink, and she helped her get into the vehicle, police said. Boek saw her and assumed his girlfriend had gotten into the Uber, though she’d actually gone back into the bar, the sheriff said. Some time later, Boek and his girlfriend got into a heated text message exchange. “The boyfriend is explosive,” Judd, the sheriff, said. “He’s stalking his girlfriend. He’s angry with her, and he tells her, ‘I’m going to eff up the Uber driver.’” Then, Boek drove after the Uber in his truck, Judd said. Boek “tailgates him a minute, then he pulls out beside him, rides besides him a couple of seconds … and then starts to pass him and forces him to a stop in the roadway,” Judd said. About six seconds after Boek jumped out of his pick-up truck, Westlake shot him, according to the dash-cam video released by police. “Oh my God,” Westlake can be heard saying. ’He came towards me’ Westlake then dialed 911 and tried to save Boek, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said. “He ran me off road, jumped out of his vehicle,” Westlake said calmly in the 911 call, which the sheriff’s office posted to YouTube. “I couldn’t get away.” Polk County Sheriff's Office Jason Boek “He came towards me, shouted he’s got a pistol, reached for his waistband.” Westlake said he fired one shot from a .40-caliber pistol. “He dropped a cell phone. I kicked it away,” said Westlake, who said he didn’t realize it was a cell phone at first. Westlake told the 911 operator he was applying pressure to the wound as Boek took faint, shallow breaths. “I thought for a moment that I hit it in a spot where he could survive. I thought for a moment after doing compressions (that) I had him back,” he told WFTS. Boek died at the scene, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities did not find a gun other than Westlake’s at the scene, Judd said. “Everything I do now I’m going to be reminded that this other person doesn’t get to do it. So it’s hard to enjoy some things,” Westlake said. Uber, in a statement, said: “We are saddened by this unfortunate incident and will continue to work with police on their investigation.” The company’s policy prohibits drivers and passengers from carrying firearms while using the Uber app to the extent permitted by local law. Westlake has been suspended from using the app, Uber said. The company said it will evaluate his status after he submits a letter from law enforcement indicating that he is not a suspect or been charged in the shooting, the company said. CNN’s Nicole Chavez contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Officials with the Polk sheriff’s office said in a statement that Boek, 34, “aggressively approached” the Uber from behind, then briefly pulled up beside it before cutting off the driver and forcing him to stop. Boek emerged from a pickup truck carrying an object in his hand, which turned out to be a cellphone, and shouted at the driver: “You know I got a pistol. You want me to [expletive] shoot you?” according to video released by authorities.<doc-sep>
A Florida Uber driver shot and killed a man who was chasing his car with a pickup truck and threatened him, authorities said Wednesday. Jason Boek, 34, was fatally shot at around 2:20 a.m. Tuesday morning after leaving a bar in Dundee, Florida, and chasing Uber driver Robert Westlake, 38, in his pickup truck, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference Wednesday. Boek apparently saw his girlfriend and a bartender help another woman into an Uber and mistakenly thought his girlfriend had gotten into the car, Judd said. Boek became enraged and sent his girlfriend, who was still at the bar, a series of text messages, Judd said. "The boyfriend is explosive. He's stalking his girlfriend, he's angry with her and he tells her 'I'm going to F up the Uber driver'" Judd said. Jason Boek Polk County Sheriff's Office In dash cam video released by the sheriff's office, Boek can be seen cutting off Westlake's car before stopping in the middle of the road and getting out, walking towards the vehicle. "I say something?" Westlake asks. "You know I got a pistol?" Boek responds, approaching Westlake's car while holding his cell phone like a gun. "You want me to f---ing shoot you?" A gunshot is then heard and Westlake and the passenger separately exclaim "Oh my God!" In a 911 call, Westlake can be heard saying Boek "ran me off the road, jumped out of his vehicle, I couldn't get away." Westlake shot Boek once in the chest, police said. "He came towards me, shouting he's got a pistol reached toward his waistband," Westlake says on a 911 call made public by the sheriff. "I fired one shot from my pistol. He dropped his cell phone I kicked it away, I didn't realize it was a cell phone at first." "I'm applying pressure to the wound, he's faintly breathing," he added. The sheriff's office said Westlake has a license to carry a firearm, works in security and had just finished the police academy. Neither Boek's girlfriend, the woman who got into the Uber nor Westlake knew each other, Judd said. "At the end of the day the message is clear, don't mess with the Uber driver. Leave the Uber driver alone because he just might be a certified police officer in waiting," Judd said. "This is a justifiable homicide all day long. You have the right to protect yourself," he said, adding,"This is a classic 'stand your ground' case." Floridians are allowed under the "stand your ground" statute — which was first enacted in 2005 and backed by gun lobbyists — to defend themselves with deadly force if they believe they are in imminent danger or death. The person being threatened is not required to try and flee the scene. A spokesperson for Uber said in statement, "We are saddened by this unfortunate incident and will continue to work with police on their investigation." Boek's family spoke to NBC News Wednesday from their home, where they said that they were distraught and that he was a loving father who was beloved by many but made a bad choice. They also insisted the Uber driver had time to leave the scene instead of shooting. "He's not a bad person. He needed help," mother Michele Boek, said. "How he was portrayed in that press conference is not who he is as a person," said Jenna Irby, Boek's sister. "Now my 2-year-old son is never going to know him," she added through tears.