DELTONA, Fla. — An armed man was shot and killed by a Volusia County deputy during a dispute over a cab fare Monday night, investigators said.
Deputies said an argument between the customer, identified as Robert Teter, 39, and a cab driver started at about 6:30 p.m. on Maldive Court in Deltona.
Teter went inside a home to get his credit card, but it was declined, which escalated the fight, deputies said. Teter then tried to write the cab driver a check, but the driver told him he could only accept cash or credit cards.
The taxi driver then called deputies.
Teter spent about 35 minutes inside the home before coming outside with the gun, deputies said.
Deputy Kyle Cowger, 28, ordered the suspect to drop the weapon, but he refused, so Cowger shot the man in the doorway of the residence several times, deputies said.
Even after being shot more than once, he continued being belligerent, neighbor Natalie Stroh said.
"We knew that he was still alive, because one of the officers did say he was still resisting," she said.
Nearby resident Tyler Miller show video of the scene on his cellphone.
“After I heard gunshots I actually for the recording of them telling the guy, ‘Get to the ground, get to the ground,’ and I was like, ‘OK this is serious now,’” said Miller.
Miller said he saw three deputies order Teter to put the down the gun.
“The guy wasn’t complying,” he said.
Miller said he spoke to the cab driver after the incident.
“He said he was acting strange in the car but he said he wasn’t acting strange toward him and it wasn’t his job to ask, as long as he’s not trying to harm him,” Miller said.
Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson defended Cowger's actions.
“They challenged the individual and told him to put the gun down. He didn’t put the gun down," he said. "Their lives were in danger, at which time, they fired on this individual. You pull a gun on a cop and don’t drop it, bad things are going to happen,"
The man was flown to Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, where he died.
It was a very chaotic scene, Stroh said.
"When I saw more cops show up, rushing to the door in full tactical gear, I know it was something pretty serious," she said.
Cowger was placed on administrative leave with pay while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates. He has never been on trouble on the job.