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A Florida man has been arrested and another has died after an attempt to see if what they thought was a bullet proof vest, but was in fact a flak jacket, could stop a bullet.
Tampa police say Alexandro Garibaldi, 24, fired a shot at his cousin Joaquin Mendez, 23, to test out what they believed to be a bullet-resistant vest. But what Mendez was actually wearing was a flak jacket, which is also known as a fragmentation protective vest that is designed to protect the body from explosive shrapnel. Flak jackets are not designed to protect the body from bullets.
According to witnesses, Mendez sat in a chair outside 2407 East Gordon Street where he put on the camouflage vest wondering aloud whether it worked or not. Thats when his cousin Garibaldi presented a firearm and said, “Let’s see,” and then fired.
The bullet that Garibaldi fired ended up penetrating the vest, piercing Mendez’s chest. Mendez would later die at a local hospital and Garibaldi was charged with manslaughter and for being a felon in possession of a firearm. His bail is set at $20,000.