A fifty year-old UPS driver in California was ambushed on his delivery route earlier this week. The man who laid the ambush, the driver’s childhood friend and current co-worker, shot him to death.
The victim, Expedito De Leon, was shot ten times as he sat behind the wheel of his delivery truck on May 16. He was still wearing his seat belt when his body was found. The attack took no more than a few seconds. The Orange County District Attorney’s office identified the attacker as Rhean Jalipa Fontanoza in a statement released on Tuesday.
Officials stated that De Leon was holding his UPS scanner and was buckled into his seat when Fontanza drove up next to the delivery truck and fired fourteen rounds in under twenty seconds. Ten of the shots found their target. De Leon died almost instantly.
Fontanoza, also a UPS employee, was on disability leave from his job at the time of the murder. Officials say that he went to extraordinary lengths to locate his victim. The suspect allegedly flagged down another UPS driver and asked what De Leon’s route was. After being told which route De Leon was driving, Fontanoza proceeded to the UPS depot in Aliso Viejo and accessed the company’s computer system for a list of stops on De Leon’s route. He used his cell phone to photograph the information, then proceeded to drive along delivery route until he caught up with De Leon.
The DA states that Fontanoza tracked De Leon down just before three in the afternoon. The suspect had secured a new vehicle for his hunt, one that his victim wouldn’t recognize until it was too late. De Leon was preparing to depart a recent delivery for his next stop at the time of the attack.
Fontanoza fled the scene immediately, but was tracked down by police later that afternoon. A K-9 unit and tear gas were used to apprehend him. He is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail.