BRANDON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A convicted felon is accused of assaulting a woman during a road-rage incident in Brandon Township and pointing a gun at a witness who tried to intervene.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday released the 911 call from the incident Tuesday morning on Sashabaw Road.
The witness called 911 when he saw the suspect and the victim stopped in the road.
"We just pulled up to a man beating the hell out of a woman. We got out and he pulled a gun on us," the witness told the 911 operator.
He said that when he told the suspect to relax, the suspect pulled out a handgun.
"He literally was beating this girl up … He said, ‘I'll show you how I'm going to relax,' and pulled a gun," the witness said.
After the suspect got into his car and left, the witness followed the victim to another location, where they pulled over and he turned the 911 call over to her so she could explain to the 911 operator what had happened.
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"Speed limit was 50 and he was going about 30, so I was going to try to pass him and that's when he got in the middle and started slowing down and stopping his car so I can hit him. He kept going really really slow and not letting me go anywhere. Then he stopped his car and got out of the car and then he started saying, ‘You (expletive) b-word, you don't know how to drive, what the hell are you doing?'" the victim said.
The victim told the operator that she had a child in the car and explained to the that suspect she didn't want to get into an accident.
"He got really close to my face and put his hand up like he was going to hit me, so I pushed him a little bit and then he pushed me back," the victim said.
The suspect, John David Lerke, 59, a Brandon Township resident, was arrested shortly after the incident. The sheriff's office said he had a Kel-Tec .380-caliber handgun, an extra magazine and 10-inch knife on him.
His criminal history includes convictions for carrying a concealed weapon and assault.
He is charged in Tuesday's incident with carrying a concealed weapon, firearm possession by a felon, felonious assault and interfering with a telecommunications device and assault and battery.