A lost DoorDash driver started knocking at houses for directions. A local official then shot him in the back, cops say
A New York highway superintendent shot a DoorDash driver in the back after the lost delivery worker had stopped at his home to ask for directions, authorities said.
John J. Reilly, 48, faces felony charges in the shooting of the driver, who was allegedly having trouble with his GPS app and was unable to find the right house for a delivery, according to the New York State Police.
Police said the driver, who has not been named, had approached several homes on Valerie Drive in Chester asking for directions before knocking on the door of Reilly’s home around 9:50 p.m.
Reilly, who is the Town of Chester highway superintendent and a federally licensed firearms dealer, told him to get off his property, police said.
As the driver turned and attempted to leave in his car, police said Reilly fired at him several times, striking him once in the back.
While the gunshot caused “serious physical injuries” and led to emergency surgery, his injuries are “not at this time expected to be fatal,” a spokesman for the Orange County district attorney’s office told ABC7.
“No one should ever fear for their safety just for trying to make deliveries in their neighborhood,” a DoorDash spokesman said in a statement to the New York Times. “We’re devastated by this senseless act of violence, and we’re wishing the Dasher a full and speedy recovery. We’ll continue to work closely with law enforcement as they investigate this tragic incident.”
Reilly, who has been the town’s highway superintendent since 2021, was arrested on Saturday and arraigned on charges of first-degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm.
Chester’s Town Supervisor, Brandon Holridge, released a statement on Monday, announcing that that the investigation would be handled by the New York State Police, and not the Chester Police Department, because Reilly is a town official.
“We are deeply troubled by what has been reported so far,” Holridge said. “We hope the person who was injured in the incident makes a full and healthy recovery.”
Reilly was booked into Orange County Jail with his bail set at $250,000. A preliminary hearing has been set for Friday morning in the Town of Chester.
The incident follows a rash of shootings in recent years in which people were shot after they knocked on the wrong door.
In 2023, 66-year-old Kevin Monahan opened fire on a car that had mistakenly entered his driveway at his home in Upstate New York, killing Kaylin Gillis, a 20-year-old woman sitting in the passenger seat. The women had been trying to find a friend’s home in the neighborhood. Monahan was sentenced to 25 years in prison for second degree murder.
That same year, a Black teenager by the name of Ralph Yarl, was shot by the homeowner, 86-year-old Andrew Lester, when he went to the wrong house in Kansas City to pick up his younger brothers.
