‘He was completely nude’: A ride-hail driver shoots a naked man attacking a woman in O.C.
A ride-hail driver shot and wounded a naked man who was allegedly attacking a young woman outside an apartment complex in Stanton, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
The incident occurred at 7:49 p.m. on Sunday, when the driver had just dropped off a passenger in the 7100 block of Custer Way, said Sgt. Matthew Parrish, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department.
The driver, he said, saw a naked man beating a woman and rolled down his window to yell at the man .
“That shifted the attacker’s focus to the driver, and he started to approach the vehicle,” Parrish said. “At some point, the shooting occurred.”
He said investigators are looking at what led up to the shooting as well as whether the man shot was under the influence of drugs or was experiencing a mental health crisis. The investigation will also determine if the ride-hail driver was licensed to carry a gun and what, if any, charges may be filed against the naked man, authorities said.
Alexander Espino, 19, of San Bernardino County was killed by a motorcycle driver early Saturday on the 10 Freeway in Covina, authorities say. The suspect remains at large.
A witness who lives in the area told ABC7 that he saw the man assaulting the woman before the shooting occurred.
“I saw the man beating on the woman, like, he’s like on top of her, beating on the woman,” he said. “So I yelled out the window, I said, ‘Hey, get off her,’ ran out, and when I ran out, I saw him pounding on the car, but he was completely nude.”
Parrish said the driver stayed at the scene and reported the shooting to a sheriff’s dispatcher. Arriving deputies discovered a 20-year-old man with a gunshot wound and began performing lifesaving measures until fire paramedics took him to a hospital. The man was listed in critical but stable condition.
The woman, also 20, was treated for minor injuries she suffered during the attack and was released at the scene.
The driver was interviewed by investigators and later released. The department did not say which ride-hail company the man worked for, but other news outlets reported he worked for Uber.
Parrish said the department was withholding the name of the wounded man for now. The department also did not identify the driver or the young woman.
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