Vern Evans
We’ve all had that day, where a car that won’t start or a sudden flat tire turns a normal morning into one filled with stress and aggravation. It’s how we deal with that added stress and aggravation that can make our day get better or get much worse. For Michael Lope Montes De Oca in Hialeah, Florida, it started out bad, he made it worse, and then, it got much, much worse…like bullets to the torso worse.
Here’s what happened:
Early on a recent Saturday morning, around 1:30 a.m., Brandon Hurst, a 36-year-old mobile tire repairman, responded to a call from 29-year-old Montes De Oca. Montes De Oca’s car had a flat, and he needed it repaired. What should have been a routine job quickly turned tense. After Hurst installed a used tire, Montes De Oca grew angry, accusing Hurst of cheating him by not installing a new tire. According to the Hialeah Police, what began as a complaint over the tire spiraled into something far more dangerous.
Montes De Oca’s frustration turned into a threat, and, as reported by witnesses and police to CBS News, he then made the wildly illegal and stupid decision to pull out a machete. Continuing to threaten Hurst, Montes De Oca allegedly closed the distance between the men, advancing toward him with the blade raised, ready to treat him like sugar cane in Barbados. Normally, the most danger Hurst had to deal with was the risk of passing cars when changing a tire along a highway (a very real risk to be sure). But now a simple tire change turned life or death situation with a Jason Voorhees/Friday the 13th wanna be forcing him to react and defend himself. Hurst tried to back away from Montes De Oca, but with the armed customer pressing in, he drew his gun. Perhaps it was Montes De Oca’s anger that blinded him to the realization that the balance of power had tilted in his opponent’s favor. Failing to recognize this new reality, the machete-wielding man charged, forcing Hurst to fire multiple times, striking his attacker and ultimately killing him.
After the defensive shooting, Hurst remained on the scene, recounting the incident to police when they arrived. After interviewing witnesses and examining evidence, detectives deemed the shooting justified, calling it an act of self-defense. And for Montes De Oca, he saw a bad day become his last day all because he couldn’t control his anger. While understandably a bigger pain, maybe calling a supervisor, calling a different company or asking for a new tire to be put on if Hurst had one would’ve been a better choice. Just a thought for those other folks out there tooling around our nation’s highways with machetes in them should you get a flat tire. Choose your actions wisely…and legally.
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