By Joe Johnson
An Athens man this week was indicted for a road rage incident involving a gun that occurred at an eastside intersection four months ago.
Kenneth Edward Stratford, 26, of Lindmar Court was charged with aggravated assault, DUI, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, according to the indictment filed Tuesday in Clarke County Superior Court.
Athens-Clarke County police said they arrested Stratford the afternoon of Feb. 13 on a 57-year-old Danielsville man’s report that he was driving in the left lane of Lexington Road with a pickup truck tailgating him.
The man reportedly told police that when he stopped for a red light at Gaines School Road, the pickup pulled alongside his SUV in the right lane and the driver – later identified as Stratford rested a handgun on the truck’s window trim so that its barrel was pointed at the SUV’s passenger window, according to the report.
Both the SUV’s driver and passenger said they were afraid that Stratford was going to shoot them, a police report noted. A 2-year-old girl was also in the vehicle.
When the SUV pulled into a shopping plaza on Gaines School Road so that the driver could call 911, police said, Stratford allegedly followed and after parking his truck walked toward the SUV with a bulge in his pocket that the SUV’s driver believed was a gun, according to the report, but when Stratford saw the SUV’s driver was on the phone got back in his truck and drove away.
The SUV’s driver briefly followed Stratford’s truck to get its tag number and police conducted a traffic stop on the suspects truck on Lexington Road, according to the police report.
A gun was located in the pickup and the other motorist positively identified Stratford as the person who pointed the gun, according to the report.
Stratford, who is free on a $5,000 good security bond, is scheduled to be arraigned on July 12.
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