Suspect Pleads No Contest In Connection With Road Rage Case

[Danney Ball]

 

Suspect Pleads No Contest In Connection With Road Rage Case

Shots Fired On Transition Road In Lynwood

POSTED: 4:57 pm PDT June 14, 2005

UPDATED: 5:05 pm PDT June 14, 2005

COMPTON, Calif. -- A 20-year-old Los Angeles man pleaded no contest Tuesday to two counts of assault with a firearm in connection with a non-injury road rage shooting last December on a freeway transition road in Lynwood.

Juan Pedro Peralta faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced June 28 by Compton Superior Court Judge Jack Morgan. Peralta also pleaded to two strikes and will have to serve the majority of his prison term before being eligible for parole, according to deputy district attorney Eloise Phillips.

Peralta was originally charged with two counts of assault with a firearm and one count of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle.

He allegedly opened fire on a pickup truck on the transition from the eastbound Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway to the southbound Long Beach (710) Freeway last Dec. 11.

CHP Sgt. Troy Lukkes said in April the shooting occurred after "a minor road rage incident."

"The suspect, driving a gray Mazda RX-7, pulled out a revolver and shot at a Ford truck, striking it twice," Lukkes said.

Peralta has remained jailed on $500,000 bond since his April arrest.