Hesperia Man Charged With Shooting Teen Boy Who Was Playing 'Ding Dong Ditch'

HESPERIA (CBSLA) – A 44-year-old man has been charged with shooting and injuring a 16-year-old boy who was playing "ding dong ditch" Saturday night in a Hesperia neighborhood.

Ronald Baltierra was taken into custody on attempted murder charges, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department reported Tuesday.

According to the sheriff's department, the victim and two other 16-year-old boys were walking around the area of Peach Avenue and Redding Street just before 11 p.m. Saturday, ringing doorbells and running away, when they were confronted by the resident of one of those homes, Baltierra.

Balterria approached them in the street, kicked and slapped two of the boys and then pulled out a gun and pointed it at them, SBSD reports. He then went to a car and drove away.

A little while later, the boys attempted to find Baltierra's home so they could report him to authorities for having pulled a gun on them, the sheriff's department said. As they walked up to his home, he came out the front door holding a gun. As they tried to walk away, he then shot one round, hitting one of them.

The boy was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, deputies said.

Sheriff's investigators later searched Baliterra's home, where they found several weapons, one of which had been reported stolen.

He was arrested and is being held on $1 million bail.