Man Charged with Shooting at Motorist During Road Rage Attack on 91 Freeway

RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A 20-year-old Rialto man who shot at another motorist during a road rage confrontation on the Riverside (91) Freeway in Corona is facing five years in state prison Friday. Brian Augustine Jimenez Jr. pleaded guilty on Thursday to shooting at a vehicle and was immediately sentenced to five years, according to court records. Jimenez was arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside on June 29, 2022 following an investigation by the California Highway Patrol. Jimenez was charged with shooting at an occupied vehicle along with attempted murder, and a sentence-enhancing gun-use allegation. The attempted murder charge was dismissed and the sentence-enhancing gun use allegation was stricken. "The California Highway Patrol takes all cases of highway violence seriously," Riverside CHP Commander Levi Miller said Thursday. "We continue to aggressively investigate these incidents." According to the CHP, the attack happened about 10 p.m. on June 23, 2022 along the eastbound 91 near downtown Corona. Officer Javier Navarro said that Jimenez was at the wheel of a Kia Optima and became incensed with the driver of another sedan for unspecified reasons. Jimenez "fired an unknown number of rounds" at the other car before speeding away, Navarro alleged. The victim, identified in court documents only by his initials, "A.B.," was not injured and immediately reported the attack. Within days, CHP investigators were able to obtain the license plate number of the vehicle identified as the one driven by Jimenez, Navarro said, without stating which surveillance video cameras captured the Kia’s license plate. The information was shared with surrounding law enforcement agencies, culminating in Rialto police locating the car the night of June 28, 2022 and alerting the CHP, according to Navarro. He said that Jimenez was taken into custody without incident the following morning, and his car was impounded. The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County. Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.