Local News in Brief : Road Shooter Sentenced

A Sylmar man who fired three shots at a car on the Golden State Freeway in Sun Valley received the longest sentence to date Tuesday in more than 30 such incidents on Southern California roadways last summer.

San Fernando Superior Court Judge Joyce L. Kennard sentenced Lewis L. Meeks, 33, to seven years in state prison, four months short of the maximum penalty, for shooting from his pickup truck July 20 at the car carrying a Northridge couple returning home from a movie. Meeks was convicted Feb. 19 of two counts of assault with a firearm and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle.

“We are all aware of the thousands of commuters who drive the freeways every day . . . and we know all too well the frustration that can be experienced from an inconsiderate driver,” Kennard said. “But such conduct does not justify shooting. To tolerate such behavior would recall the days of lawlessness when it was the outlaw and his gun, not the law, that ruled.”

Meeks, who had tailgated the couple’s car, testified that he shot the car to scare the couple after the man threw beer cans at him, yelled obscenities and swung at his truck with a tire iron.