Probation for Drive-By Shooting Driver in Rochester Case

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The accused driver in a Rochester drive-by shooting case has been sentenced.

A criminal complaint filed in Olmsted County Court says 26-year-old Joseph Wesley Simmons Junior was arrested about a year ago after Rochester police responded to reports of a shooting. The responding officers found multiple spent shell casings at the scene near the intersection of 41st Street and East Frontage Road Northwest.

The court document says the officers spoke with a victim, who was not injured, but reported that the occupants of a car made a U-turn while she was stopped at the intersection and an occupant of the vehicle fired multiple shots in her direction. The woman identified Simmons as the driver of the vehicle and 27-year-old Torria Dilanna Sims as the shooter.

The criminal complaint says the victim told officers she was leaving a party when the incident occurred. She stated that Sims and Simmons were also at the party and there were tensions between herself and them because she had a child with Simmons and he was now dating Sims.

Simmons was charged with aiding an offender-accomplice after the fact, aiding and abetting second-degree assault, and felony terroristic threats. He entered into a plea agreement in January and admitted to the second-degree assault charge using a Norgaard plea. That means he admits his guilt but doesn't remember his actions due to intoxication.

Get our free mobile app

Simmons was sentenced Tuesday to five years on probation and 50 hours of community work service. He was given credit for six days he spent in jail.

READ MORE: No Prison for Rochester Woman in Drive-By Shooting Case

Sims, who entered a guilty plea to a terroristic threats charge in the case, was sentenced earlier this week to about two months in jail and five years on probation.