Florida homeowner fires into couple's car when they mistakenly turned into his property during a late-night Instacart delivery in latest 'wrong house' case
A Florida man opened fire on Instacart delivery drivers lost on his property. It is the latest shootings in which the victim has got the wrong house or car
By James Reynolds
Daily Mail
April 23, 2023
Police in South Florida announced they will not charge a neighbor for shooting at a car being used by Waldes Thomas Jr., a black man, who was making an Instacart delivery and accidentally ended up at the wrong address.
A South Florida man opened fire on two Instacart delivery workers after they drove onto his property while lost, attempting to drop off an order.
Antonio Caccavale, 43, said he opened fire after the car ran over his foot on his property in Southwest Ranches, about 20 miles northwest of Miami, on 15 April.
Police initially closed the case without arrests as, they said, both sides 'appear justified' in their actions - but the state attorney is now calling for a full investigation.
Nobody was injured by the gunfire but it comes as the latest in a spate of similar shootings across the nation, where people have been shot at after getting the wrong address or into the wrong car.
Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot and injured after ringing the wrong doorbell in Missouri. Kaylin Gillis, 20, was shot dead when the car she was in pulled into the driveway in New York. And two Texas cheerleaders were shot and injured after one tried to get into the wrong car by mistake last week in Illinois.
Ralph Yarl was shot and wounded by a homeowner after ringing the wrong doorbell on 13 April. He is one of several victims of recent attacks on people who have gone to the wrong address
Payton Washington was one of the recent victims of such an attack after she got into the wrong car, believing it to be hers, and was shot in the back
Nineteen-year-old Waldes Thomas Jr., was driving in the shooting, with his 18-year-old girlfriend, Diamond Darville, as passenger.
They were using Instacart, a service that pays personal shoppers to pick, pack and deliver orders within a time frame requested by the customer.
Waldes Thomas Jr and Darville were on the phone with their customer, trying to find the right address, according to a Davie Police Department report.
Caccavale told police he saw their 2014 Honda Civic on his property and told his 12-year-old son to tell them to leave.
The driver was allegedly driving 'erratically' and began running over logs, boulders and a fence on the property.
Caccavale said he feared for his safety and for the safety of his son when the car allegedly ran over his foot.
He pulled out his handgun and shot several times towards the wheels of the car.
The couple driving told police they tried to reverse out of the area but hit a boulder.
Caccavale was said to then approach them and grab the driver door window, the report said.
He reportedly called police after the car sped away.
An officer found Thomas and Darville parked nearby. When he asked what happened, they replied, 'We just got shot at.'
He said that Darville was crying and that Thomas appeared 'extremely nervous and scared.'
The officer said that there were two bullet holes in the car's bumper and that one tire was flat.
Davie police found no charges should be filed as both sides 'appear justified' in their actions based on their experiences of the events.
But Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor issued a statement saying police investigators never contacted his office about the shooting.
Pryor said his staff members were unaware of the shooting until they were contacted Friday by a reporter from WTVJ-TV, who interviewed the couple.
The Davie Police Department has a contract with Southwest Ranches to provide service.
'I contacted the Davie Police Department to request a full investigation,' Pryor said Friday, adding that his prosecutors will decide whether charges should be filed.
Davie police declined to comment Sunday but released the lead detective's report. He wrote that without any video, he couldn't determine whether either the shooter or couple committed a crime.
The shooting happened on an unlit street in a semi-rural neighborhood at a home sitting on two acres.
Kaylin Gillis, 20, was fatally shot after accidentally driving onto the property of Kevin Monahan
The shooting comes after a Texas cheerleader was shot in the back after her friend mistakenly got into the wrong car last week.
A fundraiser has already pulled together $137,000 for the victim, Payton Washington.
Washington, 18, was described by her father as 'tough' days after she was shot last Tuesday around midnight in an H-E-B market parking lot in Elgin following a practice at Woodlands Elite Cheer Co.
The cheerleader and another teammate were shot at by 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr, who allegedly opened fire at them.
Heather got into the wrong car in the belief it was her own. At first, Heather didn't initially see Rodriguez sitting in the passenger seat but when she did, she began to panic thinking there was a stranger in her car.
She quickly got back into her friend's car, but the suspect whose vehicle she had tried to get into then approached them. Heather reportedly rolled down her window to apologize to Rodriguez but was met with gunfire.
Ralph Yarl, a black 16-year-old from Kansas City, Missouri, was also shot after ringing the doorbell of Andrew Lester, 84, by mistake while trying to pick up his siblings.
Yarl was sent to collect his twin brothers on 13 April, but was met by Lester holding a revolver.
Lester claimed Ralph was pulling on the door handle and he thought he was trying to break in but the teenager, who survived the shooting, insists he was not.
Prosecutors who have charged Lester with first-degree assault and armed criminal action have stressed the victim didn’t ‘cross the threshold’ into the home.
Kaylin Gillis, 20, was also fatally shot after she and some friends accidentally drove up the drive of Kevin Monahan in the upstate New York town of Hebron while looking for a friend’s house.
Police say nobody got out of the group’s two cars and, having realised their mistake, they had turned around to leave when two shots rang out.
Miss Gillis, who was in the front passenger seat of the last vehicle to turn, was hit and later died in hospital.
Monahan, 65, who neighbours said had a reputation for being bad tempered, was charged with second-degree murder.
6 comments:
Back in the day (1960s) a lot of PDs had ONE guy on the raid team whose principle job was making sure they hit the right house. He could not necessarily be sure the address on the warrant was the house they wanted to hit, but he could be sure the house they hit was the one listed on the warrant.
Pay attention. As far as the Old Guy shooting goes, print the doorknob then swab it for DNA. If the kid pushed, turned or pulled the doorknob in an effort to enter his DNA will be found on the doorknob unless he was wearing gloves.
Buy cameras. They are cheap insurance and entertaining.
Trey, get real. This was a nice kid who merely went to the wrong address and did not try to force his way in. He did not deserve to get shot.
The old white guy saw a 'nigger' at his door when it was dark and immediately figured he was a home intruder.
Howie, I don't know what happened and neither do you. I know that if the teen no matter what color, shook that doorknob, he left some skin. It's very rare for someone to grab a doorknob on a residence unless they are attempting to enter. I'm not saying it's a righteous shooting either. Just do a thorough investigation.
The kid did not put his hand on the door knob.
"Lester [the homeowner] told police that he lives alone and had just gone to bed when he heard his doorbell, according to the probable cause statement. He said he picked up his gun and went to the door, where he saw a Black male pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought someone was breaking in." - Associated Press
So the kid was pulling on the screen door handle, which is normal considering he was expecting to pick up his brothers.
Lester could have just slammed the door shut. Instead he immediately shot the poor kid. I doubt he would have done that had the kid been white.
If this was the Court of Conjecture, you would win.
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