Tesla window shot at, suspect captured

[hridge2020]

Anaheim man facing three counts of attempted murder for BB gun shooting on 91 freeway​

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - An Anaheim man accused of using a BB gun to shoot out windows on a vehicle traveling on the Riverside (91) Freeway has been charged with three counts of attempted murder.

34-year-old Jesse Leal Rodriguez was charged Friday by the Riverside DA’s Office with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.




The charges stem from a shooting that occurred on May 25 in the area of Hamner Ave. and Hidden Valley Parkway in Norco.

Around 1:30 p.m. the window of a Tesla was shot out with a BB gun, three people were inside the vehicle. Luckily, the Tesla captured video of the suspect’s vehicle which was a maroon Chevrolet Trailblazer. The victims were able to provide a vehicle description to California Highway Patrol officers and around 9:30 p.m. that same day, CHP officers and Riverside police pulled over the suspect in a shopping center parking lot.


RELATED: Person of interest arrested in series of BB gun freeway shootings across SoCal

Rodriguez was taken into custody; officers located a BB gun, BBs and other related items in his vehicle.

Tesla window shot with BB gun

 

[Tam]

...Luckily, the Tesla captured video of the suspect’s vehicle...​

I thought criminals should learn by now to not commit crimes within Tesla's proximity.

Sounds like we need more Tesla cars!

 

[HankLloydRight]

I totally understand the "three counts of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury" charges, but "attempted murder" with a BB gun?

 

[gaswalla]

worthless human scum.. glad this didn't happen in the County of Los Angeles or San Francisco or Chicago.. no one would have filed charges

 

[fiveten]

I totally understand the "three counts of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury" charges, but "attempted murder" with a BB gun?

You don’t mess around with heavy objects with people in them traveling at fast speeds. If the BB gun would have led to a wreck where someone died...a murder charge would have been brought in almost every jurisdiction.

 

[LionXng]

I totally understand the "three counts of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury" charges, but "attempted murder" with a BB gun?

If he wanted to just destroy glass he would shoot parked cars.
A fatal collision seems inevitable if people are driving down the road and have their windows suddenly break or they think someone is shooting a real gun at them.

 

[Silicon Desert]

I totally understand the "three counts of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury" charges, but "attempted murder" with a BB gun?

yea, I was wondering about that too. Attempted murder seems like a stretch, so I'll be interested in hearing later on as to how they came to that conclusion. Of course, people on here will see it both ways. We usually do

 

[Silicon Desert]

Oh and forgot to say, GREAT that the Tesla folks got a video and car description.

 

[HankLloydRight]

You don’t mess around with heavy objects with people in them traveling at fast speeds. If the BB gun would have led to a wreck where someone died...a murder charge would have been brought in almost every jurisdiction.

A fatal collision seems inevitable if people are driving down the road and have their windows suddenly break or they think someone is shooting a real gun at them.

Thanks for the replies, but doesn't the first charge ("produce great bodily injury") overlap with the second charge ("attempted murder")? Or is it like throw as much against the wall and see what sticks? Can someone be convicted of both overlapping charges? Are all non-fatal road rage incidents prosecuted as "attempted murder"? (I do get that fatal road rage accidents are charged as murder.) That seems like a clean-cut case trying to use a car as a weapon, but a BB gun, even shot at a moving car, would seem (to a driver) more like road debris flying up and hitting a car and breaking glass (which has happened to a lot of people I'm sure) and people don't lose control and crash their cars, there's no big bang of a gunshot. Just thinking out loud here.

yea, I was wondering about that too. Attempted murder seems like a stretch, so I'll be interested in hearing later on as to how they came to that conclusion. Of course, people on here will see it both ways. We usually do

No doubt!

 

[jboy210]

Thanks for the replies, but doesn't the first charge ("produce great bodily injury") overlap with the second charge ("attempted murder")? Or is it like throw as much against the wall and see what sticks? Can someone be convicted of both overlapping charges? Are all non-fatal road rage incidents prosecuted as "attempted murder"? (I do get that fatal road rage accidents are charged as murder.) That seems like a clean-cut case trying to use a car as a weapon, but a BB gun, even shot at a moving car, would seem (to a driver) more like road debris flying up and hitting a car and breaking glass (which has happened to a lot of people I'm sure) and people don't lose control and crash their cars, there's no big bang of a gunshot. Just thinking out loud here.

Trying to accurately predict how people will react in a given situation is virtually impossible. People crash their cars when a soda falls on the floor. I can see how a window suddenly cracking might cause some people to get distracted and run into another car or off the road with a potential for loss of life.

Regardless of the charges, It is great that TeslaCams helped catch this guy. Hopefully, knowing that Teslas are recording can reduce the incidents of road rage and intentional violent acts on the roads.

 

[Krazaak]

Thanks for the replies, but doesn't the first charge ("produce great bodily injury") overlap with the second charge ("attempted murder")? Or is it like throw as much against the wall and see what sticks? Can someone be convicted of both overlapping charges? Are all non-fatal road rage incidents prosecuted as "attempted murder"? (I do get that fatal road rage accidents are charged as murder.) That seems like a clean-cut case trying to use a car as a weapon, but a BB gun, even shot at a moving car, would seem (to a driver) more like road debris flying up and hitting a car and breaking glass (which has happened to a lot of people I'm sure) and people don't lose control and crash their cars, there's no big bang of a gunshot. Just thinking out loud here.

I suspect the attempted murder charges are a bit of a stretch and will likely come down to trying to prove some intent to make the vehicles lose control or to injure the drivers. Not all BB/pellet guns are created equal and it's conceivable one could penetrate the window and hit the driver. It certainly isn't guaranteed, but it's easy to see how a fatal crash is a possible outcome of shooting out somebody's window out at highway speeds. Just like tampering with the brakes on a car, could result in a 5mph crash into their garage door or it could result in a high speed crash.