While taking an Uber in El Paso, a woman shot and killed her driver, later claiming it was because he was trying to kidnap her. The case is a complex one, with evidence pointing in both directions.
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While taking an Uber to Speaking Rock Entertainment Center, Phoebe Copas, 50, says she believed that 52-year-old Uber driver Daniel Piedra Garcia was taking her elsewhere. Rather than travelling to her destination, she claims he was going to take her to Juarez.
In a statement to the police, she claims that he told her there was a party there, and they should go. Rather than taking her to her destination, he was going to kidnap her and take her to Mexico.
According to Copas, she repeatedly asked to be let out of the car. She also tried to open the door and begged him to stop. Her attorney stated, "She asked for him to stop the vehicle. She attempted to open the doors, but the doors were locked. She tried to do everything anybody would expect someone to do before an escalation of force."
After the Uber driver repeatedly ignored her, she pulled out a gun and shot him in the head, fearing kidnap. The car then careened into the road barriers, and she escaped the car. She then took photos and sent them to her boyfriend before he picked her up and the police arrived.
Garcia later died in the hospital.
Mexico Police Claim Uber Driver Was Not Attempting Kidnap
Despite Copa claiming that she acted in self-defence, the Mexican police say that evidence points elsewhere. Despite Copa saying she felt he was taking her to Juárez, police note that "The roadway Copas was traveling on is a normal route to drive to the destination requested by the Copas. The investigation does not support that a kidnapping took place, or that Piedra was veering from Copas' destination."
Despite this, the Kentucky woman claims she saw signs to Juárez that made her think she was being kidnapped. An El Paso County District Attorney's Office prosecutor noted that "Simply because this is a border city and there may be signs showing miles away from some port of entry, it is unreasonable that she wouldn't have come across that before." So, Copa saying she saw signs does not justify shooting the Uber driver in the head, claiming kidnap.
El Paso in Mexico has a bad reputation, and these things can make people edgy. Even though Copa may not have actually been in danger of kidnap from the Uber driver, she was on high alert. A district attorney had plenty to say on the state of El Paso. "That's why it's so important that we stand up for not just this Uber driver, not just this family, but for our community, to say to El Paso, to the state, to our country that El Paso is a safe community and behavior that reacts any other way is not acceptable." They are trying to remove the illusion about the state, and stand up for their people.
