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Napa County man gets 23 years in prison for 2021 road rage shooting

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PIX Now 10:19

NAPA -- A man who pleaded no contest last month to a 2021 road rage shooting in Napa County has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term.

Frank Devante Stephenson, 28, was sentenced to 23 years in state prison on Feb. 8, according to a press statement Tuesday from the Napa County District Attorney's Office. The incident happened in January 2021 on Devlin Road in Napa County, where prosecutors said Stephenson was speeding and aggressively tailgating a truck, then drove up alongside it and fired a handgun, hitting the 58-year-old driver in the abdomen.

After he sped away, two civilians stopped to help when they saw the victim in distress on the side of the road, gave him aid and called for help. The victim, who did not know Stephenson, survived his injuries.

Two weeks later, the DA's office said Stephenson pointed a handgun at a second victim in another road rage incident on Highway 29 south of Green Island Road. The victim was driving a semi-truck when Stephenson cut him off, and when the driver drove up next to him in the adjacent lane, Stephenson pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at the truck driver, the DA's office said. 

The truck driver took down the car's license plate number before Stephenson drove away. The Napa County Sheriff's Office found Stephenson at his place of employment in Napa approximately two weeks later. He had a stolen firearm in his car, which was later forensically linked to the shooting, the DA's office said.

Stevenson pled no contest to attempted murder and assault with a firearm on January 11 and also admitted to special allegations of inflicting great bodily injury and intentionally discharging a firearm. 

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