Staff Report

ROCKFORD — A  Rockford man was given a lengthy prison sentence Tuesday for shooting an innocent bystander back in 2017.

Perriyon L. King, 22, was sentenced 90 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections by Judge Donna Honzel after being found guilty last fall of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and mob action.

At around 4:30 p.m., April 5, 2017, Rockford officers were called to the area of North Longwood and Rural streetw after several reports that shots had been fired in the area. Officers found a vehicle had been struck by gunfire. The driver, 69-year-old Richard Griffin, was also hit by one of the rounds. A second occupant in Griffin’s vehicle was not hurt.

Griffin is still being treated for the injuries he sustained. A passenger in Griffin’s vehicle was not hurt.

Detectives learned during a follow-up investigation that King was firing shots at another vehicle near Longwood and Rural when the vehicle Griffin’s was driving was struck. R.