August 8, 2018

"A Florida tourist has died after being punched in the face by an SUV driver in New York who he likely mistook for an Uber worker."

"Sandor Szabo, 35, was knocked unconscious around 1.15am on Sunday in Queens while trying to make his way home from his stepsister's wedding" (Daily Mail).
It is thought that he had called for an Uber and began knocking on car windows to find out which ride was his. When he knocked on the window of a white SUV the driver climbed out, hit him in the face, and then drove away leaving him bleeding on the sidewalk.
AND: Another example of possibly justifiable self-defense: "Woman shoots masturbating bicyclist trying to break into her SE Houston home, police say."

42 comments:

Mike Sylwester said...

What race was the SUV driver?

Big Mike said...

I hope someone got the make and license number.

MadisonMan said...

Uber tells you the car and plate number coming to get you. There is no need to start knocking on random car windows.

I wonder if alcohol was involved here.

Xmas said...

"New York Values"

Fernandinande said...

I saw Masturbating Bicyclist open for Hootie & the Blowfish.

tim maguire said...

"Woman shoots masturbating bicyclist trying to break into her SE Houston home."

Now THAT is multitasking.

Bruce Hayden said...

I suspect that the outcome of the two cases would be quite different, if they catch the first guy, because of differences in state law. The first guy, the guy in NY, would likely get himself convicted. Winning a self defense case there is hard enough normally, but runing away is typically seen as knowledge of guilt, the idea being that he ran because of his guilt. Otherwise, he would have stuck around to talk to the police. On the other side, TX is pretty accommodating in terms of self defense. My memory is that it is the only state that allows the use of lethal force to defend personal property. So, I would expect that someone trying to break into your house won't be treated worse than, say,, your car or bicycle.

robother said...

She yelled at him to stop masturbating, but he persisted.

Fernandinande said...

They died doing what they loved, except for the one guy.

"It sure is nice out. I think I'll leave it out."

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

The two cases are not even remotely alike, and people are allowed to shoot intruders who are breaking into their homes in EVERY STATE.

Jeff said...

"Woman shoots masturbating bicyclist trying to break into her SE Houston home."
He was there for her fish.

Wince said...

"I don't find this funny at all."

Film at Eleven

NSFW

DanTheMan said...

Clearly this behavior is caused by:
1) Slavery
2) Global Warming
3) Russians

Am I missing any?

Thorley Winston said...

Uber tells you the car and plate number coming to get you. There is no need to start knocking on random car windows.

Also don’t Uber drivers usually have a (removable) decal on their front windshield? A friend of mine who sometimes works as an Uber drive had one on his vehicle and I assume that it’s standard practice to make it easier for passengers to spot their ride.

DanTheMan said...

>>I assume that it’s standard practice to make it easier for passengers to spot their ride.

Not in my experience, and I've used Uber a lot over the last week...

I have noticed that all the drivers now call me by name immediately upon me approaching the car. I assume this is a policy and the result of people getting into cars they incorrectly assumed was their Uber.

bagoh20 said...

Breaking into a house while masturbating on a bicycle? He's either a horny circus performer or a simple burglar is being defamed.

Robert Cook said...

Stick with the yellow cabs and you'll be better off.

Robert Cook said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lovernios said...

The guy getting out of the car and then punching the face of the window banger that seems like assault and battery to me. Possibly manslaughter as well.

Moreover, this puts to rest the "but he was unarmed" claim. A punch to the head can easily lead to death or serious bodily injury, and anyone using deadly force in self defense, in my mind, is justified. In fact, a punch to the body can also cause death or serious bodily injury if a vital internal organ is damaged.

Assault is serious business. Anyone who recklessly assaults another needs to be prepared for the consequences.

Bates said...

First time with Uber the client won’t know any of the rules. And will be scanning every driver anxious not to miss the ride. The picture of the car can disappear on the app. Be hard to read smal fonts. The verification call from the driver doesn’t ID it as an Uber call. It took me 2 or 3 rides to get used to it. The drivers also don’t know who they are looking for by sight. Just an additional note if this gets posted at all. 40 some clicks to pass the visual captcha test on a mobile phone and then captcha times out. A PhD created that.

bagoh20 said...

"Stick with the yellow cabs and you'll be better off."

Nothing could be further from the truth. The difference between cabs and Ubers is like night and day. Cab companies are rude, undependable, expensive and the cabs are often filthy and late, not to mention taking 10 times as long to get to you. They won't even take you sometimes if the fare is too small.

I used to use cabs quite a bit, but not unless I had to. I now use Uber even when I don't need to at all, whether it's an hour drive across town or a 5 minute trip to when I've been drinking. It's that easy, cheap, and pleasant. The cars are always clean, new, and the drivers are nearly universally nice, friendly, and often interesting to talk to, and unlike cabbies, they all speak English. They never complain even if it's a $5 trip, which I still tip $5 bucks on. The app is so convenient, just a couple clicks and that's it. You don't need money, or have to pass along phone numbers or addresses. The app does it all seamlessly.

Every Uber driver I've asked enjoys the job and the flexible hours, while cab drivers mostly seem irritated by the job and your presence in the cab. Uber drivers seem like free agents happily controlling their own work and lives, while cabbies seem like they are working for someone between a robber baron and a pimp.

The uber idea is long overdue, and I think it's a wonderful innovation fitting a free society, and it seems to be helping a lot of people, young and old, both drivers and customers.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

"his phone had run out of battery"

Having your cell phone go dead can also cost you your life. This is the proof but we've all known that instinctively, right?

Big Mike said...

The thought crossed my mind that if it had been a tourist from New York City and the crime took place in Florida, the police would be right on it. In New York, not so much. A guy asks you a dumb question, obviously you hit him hard enough to kill him. That’s the very essence of New York City.

FIDO said...

New Yorkers: violent as Southerners but without the charm.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

A guy asks you a dumb question, obviously you hit him hard enough to kill him. That’s the very essence of New York City.

8/8/18, 1:08 PM

At lesst a gun wasn't used. That would have been the absolute worst.

n.n said...

Dodo Dynasties notwithstanding, is there a subliminal message in the close association of death and masturbation?

Gospace said...

Exiting your vehicle to throw a punch by definition is NOT self defense. Manslaughter at the very least if found.

As far as the bicyclist story goes- all I read was the headline, posted in several venues. That's all I want to know... I'll let the police and DA worry about the details on that one.

Michael K said...

When we were in Brussels, the cabs were all on strike protesting Uber. Believe me, if I could have downloaded the app, I would have done so right then. The phone could not do it because we were inEurope.

Robert Cook said...

"Nothing could be further from the truth. The difference between cabs and Ubers is like night and day. Cab companies are rude, undependable, expensive and the cabs are often filthy and late, not to mention taking 10 times as long to get to you. They won't even take you sometimes if the fare is too small."

I may be wrong, but I assume you're not in NYC. One doesn't have to call and wait for yellow cabs here...one just goes out on the street and hails them. I can't say yellow cabs in NYC are never dirty, but I can't recall ever being in one that was. I've also never had a yellow cab here refuse to take me somewhere that was close by, (on those rare occasions when I've taken a cab ride for only a short distance). Of course, they're required to do so, and may not refuse service. If they do, one simply reports them and they can be sanctioned in various ways. (Always get the cab number, and the driver's name and number, which is always posted in the cab.)

chuck said...

> I wonder if alcohol was involved here.

First question that came to my mind. I also wonder if the victim hit his head in the fall, or actually got punched in the throat.

Paul said...

Ann, in Texas we have the Castle Doctrine. The old lady was 100 percent justified!!!

Freaks should stay out of Texicans homes.

Ann Althouse said...

Castle doctrine usually means you don’t have to take the option of retreating, not that you can shoot any one that comes to your house. It still needs to be self defense.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, did you check on the Texas case law?

Bad Lieutenant said...

I may be wrong, but I assume you're not in NYC. One doesn't have to call and wait for yellow cabs here...one just goes out on the street and hails them.


Robert, as a benighted Manhattanite, you have no notion of the difficulty of street hails in the outer boroughs. In Williamsburg it was all Gypsy cans, moonlighting Crown Vics, nary a yellow cab. That's W'burg, right next to the city. Try out in Northern Queens, say, out east past Flushing. Try Riverdale in the Bronx - no there you have a chance - try Sedgwick Avenue. Try, I'm sure, anywhere in Staten Island.

(Now what? I have to supply you proof?)

Bad Lieutenant said...

Gypsy cabs, stupid Android auto-correct.

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Anonymous said...

Robert--

I'm rather surprised you should say that. I lived on Tiemann and on 124th and Manhattan in mid-80s and then Greenwich below Canal about 86-88. There were cabs close to the first two places but they sure didn't want to bring me there at night in those days and Tribeca thirty years ago you couldn't get a cab when you wanted (even though it was near the mouth of the Holland Tunnel). We used to call King David Car Service (RIP) to go to the airport--I remember it well, they were usually Russian Jewish maniac drivers; all the car services in those days were owned by Israelis so if King David was busy you would just think of another name of an Israeli city and there was a car service named for it, like Haifa and Tel Aviv. And going to Brooklyn in 1985 in a cab? Forget it. Sure it was illegal for them to turn fares down; that didn't matter at all, their "shift was ending," always.

BTW whenever I go to visit my brother in Park Slope I have had excellent luck with the Eastern and Arecibo car services from the construction nightmare called LaGuardia, half the time I can't figure out where to get an Uber from LGA anyway, but these car services have apps and a fixed fee which is usually cheaper than Lyft/Uber for this particular kind of trip.

Anyway Uber et al has forced taxis to compete (not on price of course, that's set). They'd go back in a second if they could.

Robert Cook said...

To Bad Lt. and Giovan Pietro Bellori:

There's always Carmel!

Anonymous said...

Carmel, right, Israeli for sure.

2.5 stars on TripAdvisor. I wonder why they're so bad. Arecibo has 4, Eastern doesn't appear to be rated there at all. It's a shame because the Q&A on their Google page begins:
'Q (not that Q, I think): Is [sic] your drivers pet friendly?
A: No"

Bad Lieutenant said...

Blogger Robert Cook said...
To Bad Lt. and Giovan Pietro Bellori:

There's always Carmel!

8/9/18, 2:17 PM

Or, since you've just admitted that yellow cabs are insufficient, there's Uber, Lyft et al.

readering said...

So the puncher turned himself in accompanied by lawyer. Out of towner himself? Assistant basketball coach at Wake Forrest U.