A south metro man spent part of St. Patrick’s Day in jail after he allegedly brandished a gun at another driver on Interstate 35E.
Bobby Neal Munn, 42, is charged with terroristic threats, a felony which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
On Sunday March 17, around 5:23 p.m. the Minnesota State Patrol received report of a gun incident on I-35E in Mendota Heights, near the junction with Highway 13. A trooper in an unmarked car soon caught up with the suspect vehicle, which was traveling south. The suspect driver was speeding, and the officer observed the vehicle abruptly cut across three lanes of traffic without signaling. The vehicle turned off onto Pilot Knob Road.
The trooper followed. As a marked Eagan police squad drove by, the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of Discount Tire, which was closed at the time. As the trooper pulled up and approached, the driver (later identified as Munn) got out and put his hands in the air. At that moment, three Eagan squad cars pulled up.
Once in handcuffs, Munn said there was a gun in the side panel of his door. Officers found a chrome Rossi .357 handgun, with a two-inch barrel, black handle and black Nylon holster. Four hollow-point rounds were found scattered on the driver’s side floor, with two more in the cup holder of the center console.
Police spoke to the reporting party, a man who was a passenger in the car that allegedly fell within the sights of Munn’s gun. The man said he and his wife were driving south when they encountered Munn. Some driving altercation ensued, though the complaint did not get into detail about what precisely instigated the incident.
At one point, Munn’s vehicle was in the lane to the right, behind them. The man said he saw Munn use his left hand to hold up a chrome and black handgun, pointing the barrel directly at the victim, then he saw Munn mouth the word “boom.”
April 6, 2013 6:16 AM
