'I told my family to get down.' Man who helped apprehend alleged highway shooter describes scene

The man who helped bring an alleged highway shooter to justice described the scene in a Fresno courtroom Thursday.

Hector Villarreal testified at the preliminary hearing of Jorge Gracia about what happened that day. Gracia, of Kerman, is suspected of being the gunman who randomly shot at motorists on Highway 145 west of Fresno in November and December and has been charged with six counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm.

The hearing is expected to continue three or four days before it's determined whether the case will go to trial.

Villareal was driving his truck with several family members and a friend around 11 p.m. Jan. 8 when a black Silverado came up beside them on Highway 180. The driver of the other truck pointed a gun at his truck, he said.

"The gun was fully outside of his window," Villareal said. "It was pointed directly at my vehicle. ... I told my family to get down."

So he turned onto another road and drove to a Fastrip gas station about a quarter of a mile away.

A Silverado followed him into the gas station.

"I was hoping he'd go straight" instead of turn and follow, Villareal said.

He told people filling up their vehicles to leave and call police, and hid behind a fuel pump and called 911. He used his own gun and confronted the driver of the Silverado.

"I ordered the suspect to get out of the vehicle with his hands behind his head," said the correctional officer at Pleasant Valley State Prison.

Villareal, who lives in Clovis but grew up in Kerman, held the suspect at bay until Kerman police arrived, which was within minutes, he said.

Gracia took notes as he sat next to his attorney and occasionally smiled but mostly showed no emotion.

If ordered to trial, he faces life in prison if convicted. The motive remains unclear, but authorities found methamphetamine in his truck when he was arrested.

Prosecutor Katherine Plante has lined up several witnesses to support the six counts against Gracia in the preliminary hearing before Judge Houry Sanderson.

Witness Patricia Mortensen of Kerman said she was driving at night on California Avenue outside Kerman on Nov. 26 or 27 with one of her children when "I heard something hit my car. It was really loud."

She didn't know what the sound was at first, "then I realized it was a gunshot," she said.

She saw a dark car moving in the other direction but couldn't identify it except that it might be a Suburban, she testified. At home, she found what appeared to be a bullet hole in her sedan but didn't report it.

Defense attorney Robert Wynne asked why she didn't report it. She said her husband doubted it was a bullet hole and she didn't want to pay the deductible to get it fixed. Then she learned from news reports that the sheriff's department was looking for a highway shooter and called on Dec. 18 at the urging of her niece. Detectives looked for bullet holes and found a bullet, she said.

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 1:08 PM with the headline "'I told my family to get down.' Man who helped apprehend alleged highway shooter describes scene."