A felon who stabbed a senior on a transportation corridor in Palm Springs without provocation pleaded guilty Monday to elder abuse resulting in great bodily injury and was immediately sentenced to eight years in state prison.
Jacob Ethan Masters, 53, of Palm Springs, admitted the allegations Monday under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admission, prosecutors dropped several related charges against Masters.
During the hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Tucker certified the terms of the plea deal and imposed the stipulated sentence.
According to the Palm Springs Police Department, on the afternoon of Dec. 31, the defendant confronted the victim, identified only as a local man with the initials “D.D.,” on a segment of the CV Link between Cathedral Canyon and Golf Club drives. The link is a 40-mile paved route that provides space for bicycling, walking and running — without impacts from vehicular traffic — across parts of the Coachella Valley.
Investigators said the victim crossed paths with Masters while walking toward his home. Initially, nothing untoward happened, except that the two made eye contact. Masters apparently tailed the victim, and about 15 minutes after their first encounter, the defendant donned a ski mask and charged after D.D. while screaming profanities, police said.
The senior was knocked to the ground and tried to repel another attack, during which Masters stabbed him, then fled, investigators said.
The victim was able to summon help, and he was taken to a Coachella Valley hospital for treatment of a non-life-threatening wound, from which he has since recovered.
Based on descriptions provided by the victim and other evidence gathered in the area, detectives ultimately identified Masters as the assailant. A warrant was obtained for his arrest, and he was tracked to the intersection of Crossley Road and Sarah Street in Cathedral City, where he was taken into custody without incident on Jan. 11.
Court records show the defendant had prior convictions for domestic violence and auto theft.