Motorcyclist Shot, Man Arrested in Weekend Freeway Violence Incidents

A motorcyclist was shot, and a man was arrested for threatening a driver with a gun in separate incidents of highway violence this weekend in Southern California.

Michael Duran, 34, of Hesperia, told sheriff’s deputies he was on his motorcycle about 3 p.m. Saturday waiting for a traffic light at Rosemead Boulevard and Gallatin Road in Pico Rivera when a man in a white Corvette pulled alongside.

“The suspect looked at Duran and pointed a hand gun at him. He fired one shot (and) then sped off,” Deputy Bill Wehner said Sunday.

Duran was wounded in the groin, right thigh and hip. He was treated at a local hospital and released, Wehner said. The gunman’s .38-caliber weapon apparently was loaded with “snake shot,” pellets used to kill snakes at close range.

No suspects were in custody, Wehner said.

Minutes earlier in the Lennox area, deputies arrested Eugene Harmon, 26, of Los Angeles for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon. Harmon was in custody Sunday in lieu of $2,000 bail, Wehner said.

Harmon was involved in a minor automobile accident with Roland Gomez, 61, of Los Angeles in the 4000 block of Lennox Boulevard. Witnesses told investigators the two men were exchanging information when Harmon became angry, drew a loaded .25-caliber pistol from his pocket and threatened to kill Gomez, Wehner said.

No shots were fired and Gomez was not injured.

The two episodes were the 88th and 89th reports of highway violence in Los Angeles and Orange counties since July 29, when the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department started keeping statistics.