A 21-year-old man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly shooting a Perris motorist who took a mobile phone belonging to the suspect’s friend.
Malik Alex Elijah Davis of Perris was booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of shooting into an occupied vehicle. Davis is being held on $50,000 bail.
According to Sgt. Dave Tinker of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, at about 11 p.m. Tuesday, Davis and a friend, whose identity was not disclosed, drove to a convenience store in the area of Case and Ethanac roads to purchase goods, and when they departed, the friend inadvertently left his cellphone sitting on the counter.
The store clerk was unaware of who left the phone, and when two other shoppers prepared to check out, he handed them the device, and one of them took possession of it, according to Tinker.
He said Davis and his pal realized that the phone was missing a short time later and returned to the location, at which point the clerk informed them that he’d handed the phone to the other shoppers.
The sergeant said the suspect and his friend used a tracking system to pinpoint the phone’s location in the 3000 block of Case, where Davis confronted the motorist and her friend, neither of whom were identified, as they sat in the victim’s vehicle.
“Davis … fired one 9mm round into the victim’s vehicle, striking her in the left forearm,” Tinker said.
The wound was non-life-threatening.
The suspect and his friend allegedly fled the area, and patrol deputies were called to investigate. Tinker said deputies located the suspect and his friend shortly afterward in a tan Ford Fusion traveling through the area of Redlands Avenue and Seventh Street.
The vehicle was stopped, and Davis and the other party were detained for questioning, after which the suspect was taken to jail. The friend was not arrested.
Background information on Davis was not available.