Driver arrested in Highway 20 road rage incident

A 39-year-old Forest Grove man was arrested in a guns-drawn traffic stop in Sisters Sunday evening, accused of pointing a handgun at another driver on Highway 20 in the Cloverdale area a short time earlier, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

The sheriff’s office responded shortly before 6 p.m. of a road rage incident on westbound Highway 20 near the intersection with Cloverdale Road, Sgt. Kevin Dizney said.

County 911 dispatchers received a report from a driver who said a man later identified as Justin Allen Lehr pointed a gun at him while both vehicles were in motion, Dizney said. The alleged victim described the suspect and said he was driving a White Dodge pickup truck.

The car’s driver said Lehr’s pickup followed him into Sisters, where he turned and the pickup did not follow, Dizney said.

Deputies searched the Sisters area for the suspect’s vehicle, assisted by Black Butte Ranch police and Oregon State Police.

Lehr’s pickup was located driving in the parking lot at the Sisters Bi-Mart and deputies, aided by OSP, conducted a high-risk (guns drawn) traffic stop, taking Lehr into custody, Dizney said. A search of the pickup located a handgun alleged to be involved in the incident.

Lehr’s 7-year-old son was in the pickup during the incident and was returned to his mother, who authorities called to the scene after Lehr’s arrest, the sergeant said.

Lehr was booked into the county jail in Bend on a felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor charges of menacing and endangering the welfare of a minor. He was released around 9:30 p.m. after posting 10 percent of his $20,000 bail, a jail officer said.