Delivery drivers are becoming increasing targets for unhinged customers.
They face the risk of robberies, carjackings, and physical attacks from angry customers.
And an Amazon delivery driver got attacked by a Florida man who just would not let go.
A Florida man was arrested recently for attacking an Amazon driver who was in the middle of his delivery route, according to law enforcement in the Sunshine State.
He did not like how fast he was going
Dana Hilliker, 37, was arrested and is accused of burglary with assault or battery, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
The bizarre incident occurred last Sunday near a residence on North West Gainesville Road in Ocala.
Ocala is a city in central Florida about 40 miles due south of Gainesville.
On the day in question, Hilliker allegedly jumped onto the delivery van and scratched the Amazon driver.
The defendant was angry because of how fast the delivery driver was driving through his neighborhood, according to an affidavit obtained by local CBS affiliate WKMG.
Hilliker was seemingly so enraged because he was riding through the neighborhood with his son on his motorcycle that day.
He apparently feared for their safety because he thought the Amazon driver was speeding, he told the sheriff’s deputies.
“(Hilliker) stated he waved his hands and yelled at him to ‘slow down,’” the affidavit reads. “However, (Hilliker) stated the van proceeded to the rear of the property to deliver a package.”
That is when the tension seems to have bubbled over, and things escalated.
And that is when Hilliker’s actions allegedly turned violent.
Grabbing the van, and the driver
When the driver did not respond to Hilliker’s multiple screams for him to stop, Hilliker allegedly left his motorcycle, jumped in front of the van and flailed his arms trying to get the driver to stop.
Then, when that did not work, Hilliker went even further.
He allegedly jumped onto the van by grabbing the driver’s side door.
Then, he allegedly grabbed the driver’s shirt and allegedly began scratching the Amazon driver’s arms and legs.
“The driver said he had to punch Hilliker multiple times to free himself,” according to the arrest report.
But Hilliker had a different explanation of what happened.
He claims the driver rammed the van into him and that was the only reason he decided to grab onto the vehicle’s mirror.
“(Hilliker) stated the (Amazon driver) struck him multiple times in the face and arms in an attempt to remove him from the side of the vehicle,” the affidavit obtained by WKMG continues. “(Hilliker) stated he continued to hold onto the vehicle and used one of his arms to block the strikes.”
According to authorities the defendant’s wife took photos of the incident and turned them over to the police to help her husband.
But it turned out those photos did not help him out very much, instead, they showed his version was simply not true.
According to deputies the photos clearly showed Hilliker’s arms inside of the vehicle, not merely grabbing onto the mirror as he claimed.
In police body camera footage, a sheriff’s deputy and the defendant were seen hashing out the incident.
“I understand that (the driver) was speeding,” the deputy tells Hilliker. “However, this is an easement, and he has a right to be here delivering Amazon packages, so you cannot just jump out in front of the moving car to tell him to stop.”
Hilliker responded saying, “I was standing in the road.”
“But you can’t stand in the road to tell him to stop,” the deputy said. “And then you also can’t jump onto his window and hold on.”
The defendant was arrested and quickly posted bond, and he is scheduled to appear in court next month.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
