He is accused of shooting randomly at passing vehicles. Now he will stand trial

A Kerman man suspected of firing randomly at motorists along Highway 145 in November and December in west Fresno County will stand trial on five felony charges of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, a judge ruled Tuesday in Fresno Superior Court.

Jorge Javier Gracia also will stand trial on separate felony charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful possession of a firearm or ammunition involving a Jan. 8 incident, Judge Houry Sanderson ruled.

In addition, Gracia will stand trial on a third case that accuses him of brandishing a gun at a motorist, being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance, also on Jan. 8.

Sanderson made her ruling after listening to a week's worth of testimony at Gracia's preliminary hearing that had more than 20 witnesses involving the three criminal cases.

Gracia will be arraigned on the charges on April 18.

The five shootings that allege an assault with a semi-automatic firearm took place on Nov. 27, Dec. 4, and Dec. 15, court records say.

Prosecutor Katherine Plante also accused Gracia of a sixth count of assault with a semi-automatic firearm that took place on Dec. 1. The victim was shot in the chest; the bullet remains lodged near her heart.

But Sanderson ruled there was insufficient evidence to order Gracia to stand trial on that felony charge because the victim said her assailant drove a white Toyota pickup; Gracia drove a black Chevrolet pickup. In addition, because the bullet remains in the victim's chest, it can't be compared to the gun recovered from Gracia's truck, the judge said.

The highlight of the preliminary hearing came when Hector Villarreal, an off-duty state correctional officer, described how he helped capture the 42-year-old Gracia in the late hours of Jan. 8.

Villarreal testified on March 22 that he and his family and a friend were near Whitesbridge and Goldenrod avenues about 11 p.m. when the driver of a black Chevrolet pickup pointed a handgun at him.

"I told my family to get down," Villarreal testified.

Villarreal, a correctional officer at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, said he drove to a more populated area while calling Kerman police. With the suspect still following, he testified that he pulled into a gas station at South Madera and West Sunset Avenues, where he took cover behind a gas pump, drew his own firearm, and ordered the suspect to the ground.

Police took Gracia into custody, and sheriff's detectives obtained a search warrant and recovered a .380 caliber handgun and methamphetamine from the truck.

Sheriff Margaret Mims said later at a news conference that ballistic tests show that handgun fired bullets that match those recovered in five of the shooting incidents. In addition, Gracia was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the arrest, detectives have confirmed.

After Tuesday's ruling, defense attorney Robert Wynne said Gracia remains innocent, saying the ballistic testing is just an expert's opinion. The prosecution also has cell phone data that puts Gracia in the area of the shootings, but Wynne said, "what they don't have is the shooter."

Court records say Gracia has convictions for rape in 1997 and assault with the intent to commit rape in 1999.

If convicted of the shooting charges, he faces life in prison. But under an elderly parole program, he could be released early after reaching the age of 60 and serving 25 years in prison, prosecutors say.

This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 9:47 AM with the headline "He is accused of shooting randomly at passing vehicles. Now he will stand trial."