Man arrested after allegedly pointing gun at passing car in Perry County

A St. Louis man was arrested Wednesday and charged with unlawful use of a weapon in connection with an alleged road rage incident in the northbound lanes of Interstate 55 in Perry County south of Perryville, Missouri.

Nathaniel Roberson, 20, was taken into custody and was being held at the Perry County Jail as of Thursday morning on the weapons charge and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf, the incident was reported at about 11:34 a.m. Wednesday by a couple from Ava, Illinois, who called 911 to report a passenger in a passing vehicle pointed a firearm at them.

“Apparently there had been some back and forth passing between the vehicles,” the sheriff reported.

Perry County deputies were dispatched to the interstate and located a vehicle matching the couple’s description as it pulled off the interstate and entered the McDonald’s/MotoMart parking lot just east of the I-55/U.S. 51 interchange.

Roberson and the three other occupants of the vehicle were detained while deputies conducted an investigation during which it was determined it was Roberson who pointed the weapon, a Taurus 9 mm pistol, at the couple. The weapon was recovered at the scene along with drug paraphernalia.