Bend man accused of pulling airsoft gun on street sweeper driver in road rage incident

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend man has been charged with menacing, accused of pulling a handgun, which later turned out to be an airsoft gun, on a street sweeper driver in a road rage incident Sunday night.

Police were dispatched to Newport Avenue Market around 9:40 p.m. on the reported incident, Lt. Juli McConkey said.

The caller, a 33-year-old Redmond man, said he was working as a street sweeper and had been following a car on Newport Avenue near Ninth Street. The driver was going very slowly and slammed on his brakes in front of the street sweeper, then turned onto a side street, McConkey said.

The street sweeper driver continued his route to sweep the store’s parking lot. A short time later, the car the street sweeper had been following pulled into the parking lot.

The driver, later identified as Jonathan Carl Paul, 30, of Bend, yelled at the street sweeper driver, who yelled back, both in their vehicles in the parking lot, McConkey said. Paul then allegedly pointed a handgun at the victim, then left the parking lot and drove away.

After the alleged victim called police, an officer spotted the suspect’s unoccupied car in the parking lot of the Aspen Court Apartments, the lieutenant said. A handgun was seen inside the car.

Paul was located in the parking lot and taken into custody without incident. He was issued a citation on a charge of menacing, rather than taken to jail, due to its COVID-19 restricted admissions.

Police determined the handgun was a black metal airsoft gun, which appeared very similar to a 1911 style handgun, McConkey said.