A Homeland resident who engaged in a road rage altercation on Interstate 15 in Lake Elsinore by shooting at a young driver and his passenger has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty to gun assault. Jose Luis Magdaleno, 63, reached a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, admitting to the felony charge and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a firearm during the commission of a felony. As part of the agreement, five related counts against Magdaleno were dropped.
The terms of the plea bargain were certified by Superior Court Judge Jeff Zimel during a hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, and an order was signed committing Magdaleno to the specified term of imprisonment.
Last year, Magdaleno’s relative, Leticia Magdaleno, 54, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to a felony and received 12 months’ probation.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Lassig, on January 15, 2022, the victims, whose identities were withheld, were driving a Ford Ranger pickup southbound on I-15, just south of Diamond Drive. The driver noticed a black Chevrolet Tahoe SUV from 2001 approaching parallel to their vehicle at freeway speed.
“The driver observed Jose Magdaleno, the right front passenger, pointing a handgun directly at them from the passenger side window,” Lassig stated. “Multiple gunshots were fired from the suspect’s handgun, striking the Ford Ranger.”
Thankfully, neither the driver nor his female passenger were hit. The driver immediately pulled over to the shoulder and contacted 911. The SUV fled southbound, and the motive behind Magdaleno’s aggression remains unknown.
In the following week, CHP investigators were able to identify the defendants’ SUV through leads, leading to search warrants being obtained and served at their residence on Terand Avenue. Multiple weapons, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, and high-capacity magazines, were seized by investigators at the Homeland address.
Neither Jose nor Leticia Magdaleno had any prior felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County.
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