FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska woman who menaced a family with a BB gun during a road rage incident will avoid jail time.
Betty Jean Holder, 49, of North Pole was initially charged with two counts of felony assault, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
In a plea arrangement, she pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor assault. She was sentenced to a year in jail, which was suspended, and two years of probation.
Holder in June 2017 contacted Alaska State Troopers and reported that a vehicle had nearly collided with hers. She told an investigator she followed the second vehicle for a short distance and flipped her middle finger at the driver.
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Three hours later, the other driver, who had his teenage daughters with him, told a different story.
He reported to troopers that he and Holder stopped at an intersection and that she gestured at him as he started to drive through.
He backed up and made a sarcastic gesture indicating Holder should go first, he said. He also began recording video.
The video showed Holder standing outside her vehicle holding what appeared to be a black semi-automatic handgun. The BB gun had “SIG Sauer” on the side with a model number of P226 and looked almost identical to a real SIG Sauer pistol, prosecutors said.
“What? Are you scared?” Holder is recorded saying.
One of the teens is recorded saying there were children inside the man’s vehicle.
Holder replied, “Good,” and pointed the gun directly at the camera, according to the criminal complaint.
The man immediately drove through the intersection. His 16- and 13-year-old daughters told troopers they believed Holder was pointing a real handgun and that they were going to be shot.
Holder acknowledged getting out of her vehicle but denied pointing the BB gun toward the camera. She had the BB gun and a stun gun in her vehicle for self-defense, she said.
Holder was ordered to attend an anger management assessment and to forfeit the BB gun. She will be banned from possessing a firearm until she concludes probation. She also was ordered not to contact the victims.