A Makinen man has been sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison for randomly opening fire on a fellow motorist last winter.
Daniel Edmund Reitmajer, 25, pleaded guilty in November to a charge of attempted intentional second-degree murder by drive-by shooting in State District Court in Virginia.
Reinmajer entered a Norgaard plea, which allows a defendant to assert that he is unable to recall all the facts of the incident due to intoxication or amnesia while acknowledging that there is sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction.
Judge Michelle Anderson imposed the 130-month sentence Thursday.
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According to court documents, the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office was notified Feb. 10 of a motorist being shot at in the Makinen area, southeast of Eveleth. The man was traveling on Wilson Road when his windshield was struck around 5 a.m.
The victim was advised to continue driving toward Virginia until coming into contact with responding squad cars. An officer noticed the rear window of the victim's truck was shattered with a small bullet hole near the center. The front windshield, which was cracked, also appeared to have been impacted by a bullet.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim said he was driving to work when he passed a white pickup truck parked at the end of a driveway. Shortly after, the driver of the pickup began tailgating the victim, then pulled up alongside the victim's vehicle and pointed a gun.
The victim reported slamming on the brakes right as he heard a gunshot, causing him to spin around. According to the complaint, he began driving away from the scene as fast as he could, but the driver of the pickup followed. The suspect fired a second shot, which hit the back window of the truck, before the victim got away.
Police located Reitmajer in his truck parked at the end of his driveway. He was detained on the scene with three .22-caliber rounds located in his pocket and a small plastic bag containing suspected methamphetamine, according to the complaint. In the snow near the driveway, police also seized a .22-caliber long rifle with live ammunition. Police also seized a .22-caliber long rifle.
The sheriff's office later said Reitmajer and the victim did not know each other, describing the incident as a "random act of violence."
Under state law, Reitmajer must serve at least two-thirds of the prison term — a little more than seven years — before he is eligible for supervised release.
