from the Butler Eagle. happened near me and I think I drove by that day as the cops were pulling in. thoughts on this? my thought is that any of us could lose our rights quickly just by someone saying they felt afraid and saw our gun. I'd stay in the vehicle. always try to deescalate





A Butler man is accused of showing another man that he had a pistol during an apparent road rage incident in Butler.

Stephen J. Fleming, 24, faces a hearing in December on charges in the incident last week in Pullman Square. No one was injured.

Butler police said the alleged victim, a 28-year-old Butler man, told them that he was driving on Hansen Avenue around 5:20 p.m. Friday when another motorist, later identified as Fleming, pulled in front of him.

The victim said he had to hit his brakes to avoid striking the defendant's car, according to charging documents. Both drivers turned onto Renaissance Drive and eventually traveled into the shopping plaza.

Police said the victim admitted that he yelled something out of the window as they approached the stop sign at Bell and CDC drives.

Fleming told police that he and the other man were both “yelling back and forth,” documents said.

According to the victim's account, the defendant stopped his car at the stop sign and got out. While facing the victim, he allegedly “lifted his shirt exposing a handgun that was in a holster in the front waist band of his pants and told (the victim), 'Do something.'”

The older man advised that he was “very scared,” police said, and drove around the defendant before calling 911.

Fleming denied lifting his shirt to show his gun, a 9 mm pistol, police said, but acknowledged that he believed his shirt was tucked behind the gun in his waist band.

District Judge Bill O'Donnell arraigned Fleming on misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats, simple assault and disorderly conduct. He was released on unsecured bond.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 9 at the office of District Judge William Fullerton.

Fleming's attorney, Christopher Thomas of Pittsburgh, said Tuesday that he has not seen the police complaint and declined to comment on the charges.