Man enters plea bargain in shootings during chase

Bill Gang

Friday, May 8, 1998 | 10:14 a.m.

A wild gunfire-filled chase along Las Vegas streets last summer by two men in a sport utility vehicle was aimed at a motorcycle rider who, in fact, did get shot in the back.

But during the pursuit, Daniel Cabrera somehow also shot his buddy, who was driving the Ford Bronco.

The biker lived but the friend did not.

On Thursday, Cabrera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder in a plea bargain that will put him behind bars for a minimum of 10 years before he could be eligible for parole.

Formal sentencing is set for July 7 in District Judge Joseph Pavlikowski's courtroom.

Cabrera, 48, faced the possibility of a life prison term with or without the possibility of parole after 40 years had he gone to trial and been convicted of first-degree murder.

The July 31 melee began when one of the occupants of the Bronco leaned out and punched the motorcycle on Cheyenne Avenue near Pecos Road, Metro Police said.

The biker rode off with the Bronco in pursuit. Police said that numerous shots were fired from the sport utility vehicle and one small caliber bullet finally hit the motorcyclist in the back, although he kept riding.

Meanwhile, the Bronco went out of control because the driver had been shot and crashed into a block wall in a vacant lot near Las Vegas Boulevard North and Pecos. The driver died at the scene.

Cabrera, 48, was arrested after police saw him hiding the .22-caliber murder weapon nearby.