Using cell phone video captured by a passenger, California Highway Patrol officers identified and arrested a man accused of shooting a driver in the face with a BB gun on Monday. Elises Lugo of Oxnard was driving down the southbound 101 near Carrillo Street in Santa Barbara around 2:45 p.m. when a Nissan Sentra made a lane change directly in front of him, into the fast lane. The 34-year-old Lugo steered his Ford van to the middle lane, and as he passed the sedan, the other driver shot him with a BB handgun.
Lugo had minor injuries — and is fine — and pulled off the highway to call the CHP. Officers, who gained the sedan’s license plate from Lugo’s passenger’s video, identified the driver as Erick Morales, 27, of Lompoc. Morales was arrested that evening at his home and booked into County Jail on assault with a deadly weapon. Witnesses to the incident are asked to contact Santa Barbara CHP at (805) 967-1234.