A 39-year-old man accused of firing a BB gun at motorists traveling the Moreno Valley Freeway and Interstate 10 in the Banning Pass, causing damage and endangering the occupants, was charged Wednesday with multiple counts of assault.
Ernesto Zevero Gonzalez of Armona was arrested and booked into the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on Friday following a California Highway Patrol investigation. Gonzalez, who is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail, is charged with four counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to cause great bodily injury. He was slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Banning Justice Center.
The CHP's San Gorgonio office handled the investigation, and according to Officer Jason Montez, on Friday afternoon, Gonzalez allegedly roamed the 60 Freeway between Cabazon and Moreno Valley, targeting vehicles with a BB gun. Montez said motorists on I-10 in the vicinity of Beaumont were also targeted. At least four vehicles were damaged, according to the CHP spokesman.The victims were able to provide descriptions that enabled CHP personnel to quickly develop leads, and at about 3:30 p.m. Friday, the defendant was pulled over in the area of Interstate 5 and the San Onofre scales, just south of San Clemente, where he was taken into custody without incident, according to Montez.