Lowell man gets 4 years for shooting at semi on rural highway
A Lowell man got four years in prison Wednesday for shooting at a semi in April 2023 on a rural highway near Lake County's southern border. No one was hurt.
He then fired more shots at the road 12 hours later in White County.
Kevin Perfetti, 55, pleaded guilty in March in Lake Superior Court to intimidation. He was originally charged in an attempted murder case.
Defense lawyer Lonnie Randolph II said his client otherwise didn't have any criminal history, but spiraled after his mother's 2017 death. Perfetti already spent two years in jail and would respond to rehabilitation, he said.
His client struggled with depression and was using drugs the week the shootings happened, he said.
Court records show Perfetti pleaded guilty to intimidation in White County and was sentenced to about two years in February 2024.
Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Adam Martin acknowledged Perfetti's mental health challenges, but said the case had 'serious charges' and someone could have been really hurt. He asked for four years in prison.
Randolph disputed Martin's request, saying the case was overcharged from the start. Martin told Vasquez prosecutors felt the attempted murder case was appropriate.
Perfetti said in court what he did was 'reckless' and apologized.
Vasquez told him he could have killed someone.
Court records show a truck driver told police he was driving with a female passenger west on Indiana 2 around 1 a.m. April 26, 2023 when a black SUV with a temporary license plate drove erratically, sped in front of them, then kept braking.
The driver sped ahead.
Up the road, the semi driver saw the man out of the car with a firearm and saw 'flashes' and heard multiple shots.
The SUV driver got back into the vehicle and made a U-turn driving off east.
Bullets struck the semi's grille, right front fender, the right tire. The back doors had at least 10 bullet holes.
Another semi driver said she was driving south on I-65 in White County the same day when a black SUV did the same thing.
The other driver put a gun out the window and fired shots, according to the affidavit.
An Indiana State Trooper found Perfetti in a Boone County rest stop. His 2020 black Chevy Tahoe had temporary plates. Inside his vehicle, police found a semi-automatic pistol, a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun, a gun magazine clip, ammunition and casings.
Perfetti said in a police interview he passed a semi, which flashed their lights at him. He pulled in front of it and 'brake checked' it. He admitted he fired shots in a 'road rage' incident in White County.
mcolias@post-trib.com
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