The couple called 911 to report a semi had run them off the road before the driver pulled a gun on them while they were stuck in traffic.

Just after the incident was reported around 4 p.m. Monday, a Churubusco police officer pulled over the semi driver, Bradley Darland, 38, of Churubusco on U.S. 33 at North West County Line Road.

The couple, in a black Chevy pickup truck, told police they tried to pass the semi where northbound U.S. 33 merges from two lanes into one north of Cook Road. Darland sped up and forced them off the road, and an Allen County sheriff's officer saw dirt and gravel on the passenger side of the pickup, court records said.

Near Johnson Road where traffic was stopped for construction, the pickup driver said Darland got out and walked up to his truck. When the pickup driver got out, Darland started to yell at him.

Darland then pulled a black, semi-automatic handgun and pointed it at the victim's face. Darland said something about shooting the victim and the man yelled at his female passenger to call police. Darland first told police he didn't have a gun but did have a pocket knife. Police found the pocket knife and a magazine pouch containing a seven-round pistol magazine and six rounds of 9 mm ammunition in his front pockets, court documents said.

Darland told police the pickup driver tried to “cut him off” and the two later exchanged some words. A sheriff's deputy found a black semi-automatic handgun in Darland's cab.

Darland was charged with felony intimidation, criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, pointing a firearm at another person and misdemeanor aggressive driving and reckless driving causing property damage. He was released from the Allen County Jail on $15,000 bond.

jduffy@jg.net