A Yucca Valley man who was accused of attempted murder nearly two years ago, accepted a plea bargain in Joshua Tree Superior Court Monday. On September 5, 2011, about 4:30 a.m., a woman called 911 to report her ex-boyfriend, Jon Richard Smith, 53, was outside her house in the 56000 block of Navajo Trail in Yucca Valley, and was shooting a rifle at her house. The unidentified woman told dispatcher she was hiding from Smith in a bedroom closet. While she was on the phone with 911, operators heard several more gun shots. When deputies arrived, they found Smith standing near her street holding a rifle. When Smith saw the deputies, he shot himself. Jon Smith was taken to a hospital for treatment. When he appeared at his arraignment a few days later, it was reported that he appeared uninjured. On Monday, Smith accepted a plea bargain in which the two charges of attempted murder, threatening a crime, and negligent discharge of a weapon, were dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to assault with a firearm on a person, and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. Jon Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on January 8.
