Anaheim man sentenced to 10 years in prison for string of BB gun shootings at vehicles

RIVERSIDE – An Anaheim man charged in a string of BB gun shootings on area roads pled guilty to three felonies today, Aug. 8, 2022, and was sentenced to 10 years in state prison.

Jesse Leal Rodriguez, DOB: 12-27-86, entered into a plea agreement with the DA’s Office, pleading guilty to three counts of assault with a deadly weapon – one for each victim -- and admitted a prior strike.

For about a month in mid-2021, there were multiple vehicles shot at with a BB gun on area highways and roads, causing tremendous fear for motorists.

On May 25, 2021, Rodriguez’s maroon Chevrolet Trailblazer with its driver’s side window rolled down was seen on the rearview camera of a Telsa traveling in the area of Hamner Avenue and Hidden Valley Parkway in Norco. The back window of the Tesla was shot and shattered. Thankfully, no one inside the Tesla was injured.

The morning of that same date, another victim’s passenger side rear window was shot while traveling on Highway 91 near Tyler Avenue in Riverside. The victim had been looking behind her to the right to change lanes and saw a maroon Chevrolet Trailblazer. She later identified it as the same vehicle in still shots from the Tesla camera system.

The evening of May 25, 2021, a third victim was traveling on Highway 91 near Magnolia Avenue in Riverside when she heard a loud pop and her rear window shattered. She told authorities at the time that she saw a dark SUV pass her on the right at the time of the incident.

About 30 minutes later, at 9:30 p.m., based on the vehicle description provided by witnesses, CHP officers, assisted by Riverside police, pulled over a maroon Chevrolet Trailblazer in a shopping center parking lot in the area of Magnolia and Tyler avenues. The driver, Rodriguez, was arrested and a BB gun, BBs, and other related items were found in his vehicle.

Rodriguez was later charged by the DA’s Office.

The case, RIF2102128, was prosecuted by Deputy DA Phillip Joo of the DA’s Felony Prosecution Unit.

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