After assessing the damage to his bullet-riddled SUV, a man who helped catch the person who allegedly shot him a day earlier on a Fullerton freeway said on Tuesday that he was lucky to survive.
The 56-year-old man shot on the 91 Freeway in Fullerton shows where he was hit. (Credit: KTLA)
The man called 911 late Monday afternoon to report a car-to-car shooting on the 91 Freeway near Interstate 5 that left him injured. While on the phone with dispatchers, he followed the vehicle belonging to the alleged gunman, according to the Fullerton Police Department.
“I was driving after him in excess of 90, 80,” said the 56-year-old man, who asked to remain anonymous. “I chased him, I kept the CHP advised as to my location. As I was going down the road, I told them I felt I had been shot.”
The victim drove several miles before he and the suspected gunman were pulled over in Anaheim Hills, said Lt. Bob Dunn with the Anaheim Police Department.
Jerry Valentin, 32, of Scottsdale, Arizona was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, according to Kathryn Hamel with Fullerton police.
Blood was visible in the car belonging to a man who was shot several times while driving home from work on the 91 Freeway in Fullerton on Aug. 5, 2014. (Credit: KTLA)
The victim was treated at a hospital for his injuries.
“I guess I was very lucky from looking at the gunshots,” the man said.
His vehicle had been hit by seven rounds, and it appeared he had three holes in his arms from where he was struck. He said he had no idea he had even been shot at first.
“All of a sudden, my glass on my driver’s side blew up… When I looked over, and when my window blew up, I looked over and saw something pointing at me,” he said. “I felt something drizzling down my chest, it was blood,” he said.
The man said he did not know Valentin.
He added that he chased Valentin because he didn’t want him to get away, but he would not advise anyone to do what he did.
