Man Shoots And Kills Cousin While Checking To See If A Bullet Proof Vest Still Works!

At 10 p.m. on Saturday,September, 10, 2016, Joaquin Mendez, 23, tried on the bullet-resistant vest, Tampa police said. He wondered aloud whether it still worked.

“Let’s see,” replied his cousin Alexandro Garibaldi, who pulled out a gun and shot at the vest, while his cousin was still wearing it, according to police.

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Evidently, Joaquin Mendez had just tried on the bullet proof , sat down in a chair, and wondered aloud if it still worked? That’s when his genius of a cousin whipped out a gun and said “Let’s See” and shot him in the chest. Seriously? I am sorry that a person died, but seriously they are both choice candidates for The Darwin Awards.

There was actually more to this story, e.g. – After Alexandro Garibaldi, shot his cousin he removed the vest off his dying cousin and took it into the house, and then told the cops he heard a gunshot, ran outside and found his cousin shot in the chest, He is also a convicted felon who was not legally able to possess a firearm.  Buts these facts are not relevant to my story.

If you are interested, here is a link to the original story: Click Here.

After further research I found out that this was not actually a bulletproof vest at all, but a Flak Jacket. BIG, BIG, BIG, DIFFERENCE!

Per Wikipedia; A flak jacket or flak vest is a form of body armor designed to provide protection from case fragments (“frag”) from high explosive weaponry, such as anti-aircraft artillery, grenades, some round shot used in shotguns and land mines and other lower-velocity projectiles. It is not designed to protect against bullets fired from small-arms such as rifles or handguns.

So, these geniuses obviously didn’t even know or even stop to consider the very important differences between a Flac Jacket, and a Bulletproof-Vest. Besides, even if they did know the difference, you still don’t try to test something like this while actually wearing it, and allowing someone shoot a live round from a hand gun directly at you, just to see if it still works.

Now, we finally get to my pain point of the story my friends. There are some things in life that you just have to take for granted, or faith if you’re the religious type,  that they do “actually work”, or not, as advertised and not try to test them in real life situations.

Have you ever seen those Jackass Movies? Think about it, there is a good reason they are called “Jackass”.

There are a few these kind of things that I can think of right off the bat, that fall into the category of don’t try this at home.

Before we begin, here’s an important safety tip from Tom Dye, The Safety Guy, NEVER, EVER, TRY THESE FOLLOWING STUPID STUNTS AT HOME! (Unless you wish to be permanently removed from the gene pool, then by all means, be my guest).

  • Never check to see if a firearm is loaded by pointing it you or others and pulling the trigger.
  • Never dart in front of a speeding automobile to see if the anti-lock brakes actually work.
  • Never purposely run into a stationary object with an automobile to check if the air-bags work properly.
  • Never check to see how much gas is in your car or lawnmower with a match or lighter.
  • Never try to pick up that poisonous snake just because you saw a YouTube video on how to do it properly.
  • Never throw bullets into a fire to see what happens.
  • Never fire a weapon straight up into the air, and just stand there like a damn fool.
  • Never smoke while filling your car or truck with gas.
  • Never use gasoline to start a Bonn fire or your charcoal grill for that matter.
  • Never mix chemical together unless you know how they react together. Bleach and Ammonia are good examples.
  • Never attempt to pet wild animals. Hence the name “Wild Animals”.
  • Never run a gasoline powered generator inside the house.
  • And lastly, never attempt to see how well a bulletproof vest works while actually wearing it.

If you can think of any more real life examples, please provide them in the comment box below. Comments are now open.

As Always,

I Am…

Tom Dye, The Safety Guy