SCRANTON, Pa. — Update: State police at Dunmore on Wednesday said they charged a 24-year-old Jefferson Twp. man for allegedly pointing a 9mm handgun at Flynn.
Austin Augustine is charged for terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person. Bail and preliminary hearing information was unavailable.
Original Story:
State Sen. Marty Flynn said he had a gun pointed at him last week during a road rage incident in Lackawanna County.
Flynn, a Democrat whose district covers parts of Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties, said he did not believe Wednesday’s incident was politically motivated, adding there was “no way” for the other vehicle to know he was a state senator.
Rather, Flynn’s statement and an affidavit filed by state police investigators indicate the flap involving a gun started when Flynn tried to merge onto Interstate 81 South in Dunmore. Flynn was met by a Dodge minivan that sped up as he moved over.
“Apparently he didn’t like the way I merged,” Flynn said.
Flynn reportedly told the state police he also “brake checked” the van right before a passenger in the van drew a firearm, according to a police affidavit. Asked about that, Flynn directed a reporter to the filed police reports.
State police found the Dodge after the road rage incident and identified the person who allegedly pointed a gun at Flynn’s sport utility vehicle, according to a search warrant troopers filed to gain access to the minivan.
That man admitted to troopers he pointed a gun at Flynn’s SUV, investigators alleged in an affidavit. He has not been formally charged, according to a review Tuesday of criminal court filings.
A state police spokesman could not immediately be reached Tuesday.
Flynn told Newswatch 16 he had been on his way to his office last week when the incident happened. He tried to merge onto 81 South from East Drinker Street but had some difficulty because a red Dodge minivan sped up as Flynn moved to enter traffic.
Flynn, however, still got in front of the minivan. For the next mile or so, the van’s driver behaved erratically behind him, he told state police.
Flynn reportedly “brake checked” the van, which then merged left and pulled alongside Flynn’s SUV, he told state police.
A passenger in the van rolled the window down, pointed a gun at Flynn and smiled before the van sped ahead.
Flynn followed the van as it exited the interstate onto the President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Expressway. Police officers pulled the minivan over when it got off the Cedar Avenue exit. During the stop, a police officer noticed a black Ruger handgun near the van's center console.
The driver and passenger were taken for questioning at the Dunmore state police barracks. There, the van's passenger admitted he pointed a weapon at another vehicle.
That other motorist, however, just turned out to be a state senator.
"I hope he gets the help he needs," Flynn said.
