What would you do?
So after watching the show,
it was fantastic to see that some people stood up and kept Paulina safe, but
the reality is that would never happen the way you portrayed it. Unfortunately Samantha
Josephson lost her life because she actually wasn’t paying attention and got
into a car without verifying anything. Predators aren’t going to risk getting
caught by engaging with their potential victims while others are around. They
prey on the weak, they prey on those not paying attention. As I portrayed in my
book here is a scenario that you might try, and there is no stopping this.
Bob, a local ride share driver in
the Miami market was working his normal thirteen hour overnight shift, waiting
for a ride. It was 2 AM and he was parked at his usual spot in Wynwood,
normally a busy spot on Friday nights. As he waited for the familiar ding on
his phone alerting him to a passenger’s request, he smoked a cigarette outside
of his car thinking. He was worried about all the bills he had to pay and
couldn’t help but wonder how he was going to do based on the fort-seven dollars
he made today. Bob looked up from his
phone and watched as a man in a dark hoodie approached him,
“Evening sir, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?” the hooded man asked.
“Sure” Bob said, fully expecting
the man to ask him for some change like so many other panhandlers in the area had
done in the past.
“Well, I have to get to Hollywood
in Broward, I have an emergency and I lost my phone. I see that you’re a ride-share
driver, if I give you fifty bucks cash could you get me there as quick as
possible?”
Thinking for a moment, Bob looked
at the hooded man and realized he needed the cash, just like so many other
drivers do these days.
“Sure, but I need the cash up front” Bob said.
The Hooded man reached into his
pocket and pulled out a wad of cash and handed Bob two twenties and a ten
dollar bill which Bob willingly took.
“Get in” Bob said
The hooded man got into the backseat
of Bobs Jeep Grand Cherokee and seated himself behind Bob, Bob put the car in
drive and drove towards I95, hitting a red light several blocks away. As usual
at this time of night the lights remained in the red position for longer than
normal. Bob put the car in park and waited for the light to change back to
green. The hooded man in the backseat was growing impatient waiting at the
light and told Bob
“Come on man, no one’s around, go
through the light and let’s get on our way.”
Bob said “Sorry buddy, but my
license is important to me and I don’t need a red light infraction, can’t
afford the fine.”
The man in the backseat exploded in
anger and pulled a pocket knife from his pocket, unfolded the blade and reached
around the headrest grabbed Bobs neck in a choke hold with his left arm then proceeded to plunge the knife into Bob’s chest and upper body. Bob was unable to fight
back due to the severity and quickness of the attack. As the attack ended, blood flowed from the
wounds the hooded man inflicted, and Bobs gurgled moans and shallow breathing
came to an end as the view of downtown Miami went black as his life ended.
From the back seat the hooded man
unbuckled Bob’s seatbelt and pulled him into the backseat. Since the Jeep was
in park, this made the transition from passenger to driver possible and since
Bob never turned off his rideshare app this gave the hooded man access to Bob’s
driver account. The hooded man got out from the rear of the jeep and got into the
driver’s seat making sure to keep his hood up and his face covered keeping his
identity hidden from any cameras that might be watching. He drove to an empty lot
behind a warehouse and got out and opened the trunk. He pulled Bob’s lifeless
body from the rear of the Jeep and placed him in the storage area in the back
and closed the door. He looked around making sure that he had not been seen,
got back into the jeep and put it in drive and headed towards Hollywood.
It was 2:30 AM and Julie was
getting off of work at her job at the local watering hole she worked at in West
Hollywood. She had requested a ride from her ride-share app and was waiting
outside her job for her ride to arrive. The streets were empty and dark, a
familiar site for her when she got off work, and she realized that she needed
to make some changes. Her last couple of rides home had her questioning her
safety when riding in a stranger’s car, she was uncomfortable. Her ride was a
minute away, so she moved to the curb in anticipation of Bob’s arrival in his
Jeep Grand Cherokee. She watched on her phone as the Jeep turned the corner
heading in her direction ad she could see its headlights heading towards her.
The Jeep pulled up to the curb and she checked the License plate to make sure
it was the correct vehicle. The tag matched so she entered the vehicle on the
passenger side and greeted the hooded man in the driver’s seat.
“Hey, my name is Julie, how are you
sir?’ she asked
Noticing the temperature of the
car. It was extremely cold inside, seemed abnormally so. There was no response
from the man in the front seat. She could not see his face as the car started
to move towards her destination. As she adjusted her position in the rear seat
she palace her left hand on the seat and felt something wet on her fingers. She
could not see due to the darkness of the interior, so she pulled her phone from
her pocket and hit the flashlight option and pointed the light towards her
hand. She looked in horror as she saw her left covered in what appeared to be
blood on it. She pointed the light at the seat next to her and screamed in
horror as she saw that it was covered in blood. Fear gripped her entire body,
her mind told her this can’t be happening, and she needed to escape. Before she
could grab the door handle, she heard the doors lock, she reached for it but
there was no response. She was trapped……….
What Would You Do?
