Stillwater Police: Oakdale Man Threatens to Shoot an Off-Duty Cop after Road Rage Incident

An Oakdale man allegedly threatened to shoot an off-duty Minneapolis cop last week in a road rage incident on Highway 36 near Stillwater.

Charges of making terroristic threats, disorderly conduct and being a public nuisance on the roadway against the 22-year-old Oakdale man have been forwarded to the for review.

According to the police report:

Just before 2 p.m. Dec. 22, Stillwater police responded to a report that a man got out of his vehicle at a red light on Highway 36 near Manning Avenue and threatened to shoot an off-duty cop after being tailgated.

The man told police that he had gotten on Highway 36 in Oakdale when at Keats Avenue he noticed a truck he felt was tailgating him—traveling about 3 inches from his bumper.

The off-duty cop told Stillwater police that he had approached the rear of the Oakdale man’s vehicle—and eventually was traveling side-by-side with the vehicle—when the man showed him his middle finger.

The officer stated that he didn’t respond to the hand gesture, but when the vehicles came to a stop at a red light on Highway 36 at Manning Avenue, the 22-year-old got out of his car and walked toward the off-duty cop’s vehicle, yelling obscenities.

The off-duty officer reportedly rolled his window down and told the man if he came up to his vehicle he would “kick his ass,” the report states. The off-duty cop went on to tell the man to get back in his vehicle and keep his mouth shut, the report states.

That exchange infuriated the 22-year-old, his mother and passenger in his vehicle told police.

The Oakdale man allegedly responded by saying: “Keep talking honky mother (expletive). I will put a hole in you and your family and I will shoot your white ass.” 

Conflicting Stories

When asked what happened, the Oakdale man offered up a couple of different versions of the exchange.

First, the man told police he got out of his car and asked the driver why he was following him, and that he felt his life was in danger.

The Oakdale man then accused the off-duty officer of responding with racial slurs and telling him to “get his skinny black ass in the car,” which prompted him to respond by saying it “will be a sad family to mourn your death on Christmas Day.”

The Oakdale man told police that his comment was in reference to other driver’s conduct, not insinuating violence toward him.

After further questioning by Stillwater police, the man admitted that he falsely reported that the off-duty officer used racial slurs. He also told police he left out his own comment: “I’ll shoot you.”

The man said he lied to police because he didn’t want to go to jail, the report states. He said he reacted the way he did because he thought his life was in danger.

Following the exchange on Highway 36, the off-duty Minneapolis police officer called 911 and then followed the Oakdale man to the 1600 block of Linson Circle, where he was eventually arrested.

The man was not in possession of a firearm at the time of the alleged threat.

The Oakdale man said he didn’t know the other driver was an off-duty police officer—and if he did, he would have “just kept his mouth shut and not gotten out of the vehicle,” the report states.