The passenger who fired his 9 mm pistol several times at another vehicle that carried a young girl has been sentenced to three years in state prison. The road rage incident occurred March 4 in Thousand Oaks.

Micheil Silk, 24, of El Monte pleaded guilty in June to the charge of shooting a firearm at an occupied motor vehicle and was remanded into custody on June 27 by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark. As part of Silk's plea bargain, the original charge of assault with a deadly weapon was reduced and the charge of discharging a firearm with gross negligence was dismissed.

The incident began around 6:50 p.m. in the vicinity of Olsen Road and Sunset Hills Boulevard, according to police reports.

Doug Sullivan of Thousand Oaks said he and his 7-year-old daughter were sitting at a red light when they saw the driver of a white Honda Civic in front of them toss a lit cigarette from the car. Perturbed, Sullivan honked his horn at the vehicle-a spurof-the-moment decision he would quickly regret.

Pulling away from the light, Sullivan said, he saw the car, which was driven by 23-year-old Moorpark resident Kristin Alcorn, pull into the far righthand lane and slow way down. Anticipating a confrontation, Sullivan decided to accelerate his vehicle past the Honda at 50 mph.

A few seconds after he passed the vehicle, Sullivan felt his car shake violently two times. According to Detective Jeff Miller, the lead investigator on the case, the shaking occurred when Silk fired his first shots.

"(Silk) actually reached out the passenger window, propped his body out of the car, reached forward and fired over the windshield at the victim's car," Miller said.

Believing that whoever was in the Honda was throwing things at his car, Sullivan immediately called 911 on his cellphone and reported the incident.

Still on the phone with dispatch and not yet knowing that a gun was involved, Sullivan said, he decided to follow the Honda so he could get its license plate number and help police make an arrest. After a short pursuit, Sullivan and his daughter ended up across the median from the Honda on Olsen Road.

As they began to make a Uturn onto the other side of Olsen behind the Honda, Miller said, Silk fired again.

"(Shell) casings and other evidence were found there to indicate that he discharged his firearm again at Mr. Sullivan's vehicle," Miller said.

According to Sullivan, the driver, Alcorn, leaned back in her seat so that Silk could fire the shots out the driver's side window. Miller said police have been unable to substantiate that claim.

Despite the fact that he was now aware of the presence of a gun, Sullivan, a father of three, continued to pursue the vehicle (but at a greater distance) for a short time before he gave up chase at the intersection of Moorpark and Santa Rosa roads.

In all, police believe Silk fired four rounds that day. Sullivan believes it was more like six, but at least three struck his vehicle- including one that was found lodged in the rear passenger side door near where Sullivan's daughter had been seated.

With the information Sullivan provided, deputies were able to arrest Alcorn at her house in Moorpark a few days later, and Los Angeles deputies were able to catch up with Silk in Temple City a few days after that.

Until he arrived in court, Silk, who was also ordered to pay $3,600 to Sullivan in restitution, denied ever firing the weapon, Miller said.

Though deputies arrested Alcorn and charged her with the same crime as Silk-assault with a deadly weapon-that case remains in the hands of the Ventura County district attorney's office, which has not yet decided whether to file charges.

Repeated calls made to the D.A.'s office by the Thousand Oaks Acorn to discuss the case were not returned.

According to Miller, Alcorn told police she was not a willing participant in the shooting, saying Silk told her that Sullivan also had a pistol.

The victim sees it another way.

"She (Alcorn) slowed down the vehicle and even leaned back in her seat so (Silk) could fire his weapon at us," Sullivan said. "In my mind, she was a willing participant. If she wasn't, why didn't she turn in the shooter when she was not with him?"

Sullivan said he's also frustrated that the Thousand Oaks Police Department didn't charge Silk with attempted murder.

"From my standpoint, I call it attempted murder," Sullivan said. "The bullet hit the door where my daughter was sitting, and it could have pierced it."

The psychological trauma, Sullivan said, has persisted every day since the night of the incident.

"Now I'm always looking over my shoulder. And my daughter, she comes into our bedroom every night," Sullivan said. "It's been very emotional and stressful, especially on her. I mean, my daughter could have been dead, and for what? Because I honked my horn?"