A cyclist who in February threw a bottle at a motorist’s car in a case of apparent road rage – or, specifically, driveway rage – has been sentenced to 188 days in jail.
Ferdinand Abergas Marcelo, a 36-year-old transient, appeared Tuesday in San Fernando Superior Court where he pleaded no contest to the felony charge of throwing an object at a vehicle or an occupant of a vehicle with the intent to do great bodily injury, Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said.
Marcelo, who was on a bicycle when the incident occurred, was arrested on Feb. 5 following a confrontation he had with a motorist, culminating in his throwing something at the motorist’s car.
“The defendant pleaded no contest to the charge in count one (of the criminal complaint filed against him) and was put on three years formal probation with 188 days county jail and an order for full restitution to the victim for damage to the car,” Santiago told The Signal Tuesday.
The complaint alleged Marcelo “who with intent to do great bodily injury, maliciously and willfully threw and/or projected a bottle at a vehicle, and/or an occupant of the vehicle, on a highway.”
“The victim was pulling out of a commercial driveway on the 26100 block of Bouquet Canyon Road, near Cinema Drive, when the suspect was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk,” Lt. Ignacio Somoano of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station told The Signal a day after the incident.
“The suspect threw an item at the victim’s cars causing damage,” he said.
“The victim called 911 while trying to maintain a visual on the suspect. Deputies located the suspect in a nearby area and arrested him for vandalism,” Somoano said at the time.
Last month, Marcelo was ordered by the court to undergo a mental health assessment under section 1368 of the California Penal Code.
Court was expected to receive an update on those mental health proceedings Tuesday. Instead, Marcelo entered his plea of contest.
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