California Highway Patrol on Tuesday released video that apparently shows a driver pepper-spraying and shooting at another driver in a road-rage incident on the 605 Freeway in the Whittier area.
The attacks happened after the driver of a black SUV who was trying to get on the freeway accelerated and cut off a grey sedan that wasn’t letting the SUV pass around 5:40 p.m. May 3, CHP Officer Marcos Iniguez told KTLA.
The video shows a cup being hurled from the window of a moving grey sedan at a black Jeep driving alongside it in the northbound lanes of the freeway between Slauson Avenue and Washington Boulevard.
The grey car then moves to the SUV’s passenger side, and the driver is seen using pepper spray on the vehicle and then tossing the empty can at it after it appeared to run out, according to Iniguez.
The driver then fires one gunshot at the SUV, striking its rear area near the back door.
“He just shot the car. He just shot the car,” a woman is heard saying after the sound of a gunshot rings out in the cellphone video that captured in the incident.
There were no other occupants besides the driver in the black SUV and no one was hurt, Iniguez said.
CHP sent the video to the FBI, hoping to get an enhanced image of the license plate, but they couldn’t get it, Iniguez said.
Investigators are asking for the public’s help identifying the vehicle or the driver who opened fire. The car is believed to a 2016-2019 grey Nissan Maxima.
The driver was described as being a “heavy set” Latino man, approximately 50 years old and standing about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with a buzzed haircut and a dark-colored mustache. He had no visible tattoos and was last seen wearing black sunglasses and a dark-colored T-shirt.
The suspect’s vehicle was last seen exiting the freeway at Washington Boulevard, and driving westbound from Pioneer Boulevard.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call CHP’s office in Santa Fe Springs at 562-868-0503 and speak with Investigator Leblanc.
