Pittsburgh-area Amazon driver held at gunpoint, called racial slurs details harrowing experience
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — An Amazon delivery driver who allegedly had a gun pointed at her and was called racial slurs by an angry neighbor is speaking out after the terrifying ordeal.
The driver, Linquita Schley, was delivering packages in Brentwood on Dec. 21 on Brownsville Road when the alleged incident happened. KDKA-TV obtained video of when Brian Dengler confronted Schley.
"What was going through my mind? I got flashbacks of my stepson," she said. "I was getting flashbacks of my girlfriend, flashbacks of my mom. I was getting flashbacks of my life and how grateful I need to start being for it."
Schley said the man pointed the gun at her multiple times. At one point, she said the gun was under her chin. And Schley said Dengler was calling her racial slurs.
"In the video, a lot of people don't know, he points right here," she said. "And then he tries to lift me up with the gun on my thing and that's when I snapped. I snapped back in reality and I pushed it down. And said oh, now you are doing too much, move, watch out."
According to the criminal complaint, the 65-year-old Dengler admitted that he got angry and pulled the gun because Schley's truck was blocking his driveway.
"It's hard to sleep," Schley said.
Schley has not been back to work since the incident. She said she learned this lesson.
"At the end of the day, if we love one another, we don't have to worry about hating one another," she said.
Dengler was charged with simple assault, ethnic intimidation and terroristic threats in connection with the incident.
Schley said she hopes Amazon makes some safety changes in the future.
Amazon releases a statement
"This is a terrible incident and we're thankful the driver is okay. Safety is always our top priority, and while instances like this are rare across our network, we continuously invest in protecting drivers and community members. We'll continue to support the delivery partner and law enforcement as they investigate," said an Amazon spokesperson in a statement Thursday afternoon.
