Uber and authorities are investigating hoax calls to an 81-year-old man that resulted within the death of a female driver

The shooting of Loletha Hall on March 25 was “a terrible tragedy” and that account has since been suspended, an Uber spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. “Our hearts continue to go out to Loletha’s loved ones as they mourn.”

William J. Brock was charged Monday with murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping for Hall’s death. Messages searching for comment were left Wednesday with him and his attorney, Paul Kavanagh of Springfield, Ohio.

The grand jury also stated that a weapon confiscated from Brock’s home, a .22 caliber revolver, could possibly be confiscated. Brock has pleaded not guilty.

Police said Brock called 911 before noon and said he had shot someone at his South Charleston home and claimed Hall was attempting to rob him. Investigators later said the motive force was unaware of the scam call Brock received with threats and demands for money, citing an incarcerated relative.

Hall “made no threats or attacks toward Mr. Brock and made no demands other than asking for the package she was supposed to pick up via the Uber app,” the Clark County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an April 11 news release. The police department said Brock “produced a weapon and held them at gunpoint, demanding the identities of the people he had spoken to on the phone.”

It’s not clear exactly what the phone callers said to Brock, however the sheriff’s office news release included a reminder, particularly to older people, that law enforcement and courts don’t require money for bail “as in this case.”

“We encourage all citizens to exercise extreme caution when unexpectedly contacted by individuals claiming to be relatives incarcerated in a correctional facility or who have direct knowledge of relatives incarcerated in a correctional facility,” the sheriff’s office warned.

The FBI in January issued a warning regarding government identity theft scams, by which couriers are sent to the homes of their targets – often elderly people – to gather money or have them purchase gold and other precious metals. The FBI said its Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded that such activity resulted in losses of greater than $55 million in the ultimate eight months of 2023.

A 2021 Survey of older adults within the Chicago area found that individuals with low awareness of scams were particularly in danger when told by a fictitious government agency that their personal information had been compromised.

Police said Hall’s Uber ride to select up a package was arranged by the identical one who fraudulently called Brock or by an accomplice.

Brock is accused of taking Hall’s cellphone, refusing to let her leave after which shooting her as she tried to get into her vehicle. The sheriff’s office said it was investigating “the male subject’s original scam call to Mr. Brock” and the package delivery order through the app.

Brock shot Hall twice more, sustaining a minor head injury himself throughout the altercation, after which called 911, police said. Hall, a Columbus resident who police said was not armed, later died at a hospital.

He posted $200,000 bail and was released from the Clark County Jail on Wednesday. FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren of the agency’s Cincinnati office said it was aware of the killing but declined to substantiate or deny whether it was involved within the case.

In one (n obituary which gave her name as Lo-Letha “Letha” Toland-Hall, Hall was described as a mother of a son and a stepson, a faithful member of her church and a talented cook known for delicious pound cakes. She was retired from the Ohio Regional Income Tax Department and likewise worked in behavioral health, at a faculty and for Uber. She studied horticulture at Ohio State and began a janitorial business.