A man who had already become a felon for a road-rage incident in Stafford County in 2018 was ordered Thursday to serve four days in prison and pay $7,200 in restitution.
Oscar Martinez, 26, received the sentence in Stafford Circuit Court as the result of an Aug. 28, 2018, incident in which he fired three shots at another motorist on U.S. 1 just south of Quantico. No one was injured, but three windows in the victim’s Mercedes were shot out.
He pleaded guilty in December to a felony charge of shooting from a vehicle. He was sentenced by Judge Michael Levy to three years in prison, with all but four days suspended. Four other charges against Martinez were previously dropped.
Martinez, who had just been honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, was heading south on U.S. 1 when he got into a dispute with Quais Sidiqi of Dumfries.
For reasons that remain unclear, the dispute escalated, with Martinez firing shots. Martinez, who called the police, claimed that Sidiqi had first pointed a gun at him. But prosecutor George Elsasser said police found no evidence that Sidiqi had a gun that day.
“It was an inexplicable situation,” Elsasser said. “Just a wild day on Route 1.”
Defense attorney Jason Pelt had argued previously that Sidiqi, who operates a car dealership in Stafford, had enough time to get rid of a gun before police arrived. He said Sidiqi had prior misdemeanor convictions involving guns.
But Elsasser said Martinez’s response was not justified, even if Sidiqi had a gun, something Sidiqi vehemently denied.
Levy cited Martinez’s military service and lack of any prior record in announcing the relatively short prison term. Martinez began serving his sentence Thursday.
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