Anaheim man sentenced to 10 years in prison for Inland Empire freeway shootings

A man who was behind a string of BB gun shootings on Southern California freeways last year struck a surprise plea deal with prosecutors and was immediately sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Jesse Leal Rodriguez, 35, of Anaheim, pleaded guilty to three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and admitted to a prior strike before a judge handed down the decade-long sentence. Rodriguez had been facing attempted murder charges for the string of shootings that terrorized Southern California drivers for about a month last year. 

No one was seriously injured in any of the shootings, and its still unclear if all the shootings were the work of one person, or multiple people.

Rodriguez was arrested in June of 2021, after more than 100 vehicles were damaged by BB gun shootings on freeways throughout Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties. When he was arrested, a BB gun, BB's and other related items were found in Rodriguez's maroon Chevrolet Trailblazer.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office says a maroon Chevrolet Trailblazer with its driver's side window rolled down had been spotted in the rearview camera of a Tesla driving in Norco when its back window was shattered by a shot. Earlier that day, another driver's passenger side rear window was shot at as she was driving on the 91 Freeway near Tyler Avenue near Riverside, and prosecutors say the driver happened to see a maroon Chevrolet Trailblazer as she was checking her blindspot to change lanes. It was the same day a third victim driving on the 91 Freeway near Magnolia Avenue in Riverside heard a loud pop before her rear window shattered, just as she saw a dark SUV pass her on the right, according to District Attorney's officials.