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DECATUR — A Maroa man who prosecutors said threatened a Decatur driver with a gun and then followed him around town threatening to kill him, was in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to a charge of being an armed habitual criminal.

Kevin M. Roark, 30, appeared with his defense attorney, Steve Jones, and waived a preliminary hearing on the charge. Macon County Circuit Court Judge Phoebe Bowers scheduled a pretrial hearing for May 2. Roark remained in the custody of the Macon County Jail where he is being held without bond.

The charge against him dates to the night of March 6 when, according to a sworn Decatur police affidavit, Roark suddenly pulled up next to a 54-year-old man who had stopped in at the Circle K gas station, 3002 N. Main St, to check his car’s oil.

“(Roark) pointed a firearm at him and stated something like, ‘Why don’t you have license plates on your car?’” officer J. Briar Weddle said in the affidavit. Weddle said the frightened driver, who had never met Roark before, tried to get away by driving off, but Roark pursued him.