LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A judge sentenced a Las Vegas man to seven months in jail instead of prison after he was caught on video beating a woman in a road rage incident.
Jose Soriano did not apologize in court for his actions last summer. Video of him hitting Sarah Goolsby went viral.
“You’re thinking that it’s a minor accident. You’re gonna have words, and he might scream at me, but you never think something like this is going to happen,” Goolsby told 8 News Now on June 15, 2024.
At the time of the interview, Soriano left Las Vegas. The U.S. Marshals arrested him two months later in Newport News, Virginia.
On Wednesday, Soriano was handcuffed as he appeared before Clark County District Court Judge Jasmine Lilly-Spells for his sentence.
“Mr. Soriano, according to the laws of the state of Nevada, you are hereby judged guilty of attempt battery with substantial bodily harm,” Judge Lilly-Spells said.
Lilly-Spells sentenced him to 19 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections but suspended it, which means he avoided prison. Instead, as part of his plea, Soriano will serve seven months in the Clark County Detention Center.
Soriano pleaded guilty April 21 to attempted battery with substantial bodily harm.
According to the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, Goolsby was driving on Rainbow Boulevard near Spring Valley Parkway on June 9 when Soriano pulled his vehicle in front of her. Goolsby thought she may have hit his car.
As she was grabbing her driver’s license, Soriano punched her.
“It’s bigger than me. I hate that it happened to me, but it could have been way worse, and if we catch him, and this is what brought him to justice, I am totally good with it,” Goolsby told 8 News Now on Aug. 14.
Soriano has been in jail since pleading guilty. He’s scheduled to be released by late November. He declined a request by 8 News Now for an interview.
He has a court hearing scheduled for December where he could be released from probation.
