Suspect from Colton arrested in fatal road rage shooting in Riverside

A man accused of firing a shot into a vehicle on a Riverside street that went over the head of a three-monthold in the car and fatally struck the child’s father, who was driving the car, was identified and arrested with the help of securitycamera footage of the incident involving suspected road rage, police said.

At about 4 p.m. on Feb. 3, suspect Jose Juan Escobedo, 64, of Colton, apparently became irritated by a car driven by the victim, Sergio Oporto of Riverside, 25, who would die a week later, the Riverside Police Department said in a Friday statement.

“We believe he was angry for an unknown reason at the victim while driving,” said Officer Ryan Railsback, spokesman for the Riverside Police Department. “We have no reason to believe the victim drove in a way that would have elicited this aggressive behavior from the suspect.”

The shooting happened as Oporto was driving on East La Cadena Drive. Besides him was his 3-monthold child and in the back seat was his partner along with their 4-year-old.

Police received calls that the car Oporto was driving had crashed into a tree. The Riverside Fire Department arrived first to the crash scene and found the driver suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim was immediately taken to the hospital in a grave condition.

His partner, the 4-yearold and the 3-month-old were treated for minor injuries.

Detectives from the Robbery-homicide Unit along with the Forensics unit assumed the investigation with assistance from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The detectives concluded the victim and his family met an aggressive driver who seemed angry. The other driver was the only person in the car.

The angry driver continued to follow the victim’s car until pulling alongside the victim’s car. The suspect then took out his gun and fired a shot through the passenger side of the car, over the 3-month-old, and it hit Oporto in the head, per the police statement.

A search warrant was served in Colton and Escobedo was arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. He was being held on bail of $1 million.

Anyone with additional and relevant information regarding the shooting can contact Detective Richard Glover at (951) 353-7134 or Rglover@riversideca.gov, or Detective Bryan Galbreath at (951) 353-7105 or Bgalbreath@riversideca. gov