Driver Escapes Injury in Freeway Shooting : Crime: It was the latest in a rash of similar incidents. According to a CHP study, violent encounters on local freeways have more than tripled in the past year.

An Anaheim man narrowly escaped injury early Monday when his pickup truck was shot at on the Costa Mesa Freeway, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Sinarta Bangun, 28, was driving south on the freeway near the Garden Grove Freeway turnoff when the shooting occurred about 2:15 a.m.

Bangun’s truck was struck five times by rifle fire, with three rounds striking the rear tailgate of his truck, another round hitting the right side of the cab and a fifth round slamming through the rear window, missing the driver by about an inch, said CHP spokeswoman Angel Johnson.

Bangun was unable to provide officers with either a description of the vehicle from which the shots were fired or an explanation of why the shooting might have happened. Angel said Bangun told police only that the rifle shots were fired from a vehicle behind him and that “he couldn’t see anything.”

The case has been turned over to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for investigation. Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said detectives were gathering information late Monday.

Olson added that the case would be difficult to investigate because there were no witnesses to the shooting and Bangun so far has provided little information to go on.

The shooting was the latest in what authorities call a rash of violence on local freeways. In a special study, CHP officials documented 228 cases of violence on Orange County freeways between Jan. 1 and May 15. Last year during the same time, the CHP documented 66 cases of freeway violence.

CHP spokeswoman Linda Burrus said the incidents include shootings, rock throwings and other confrontations.