right hand, rested the gun ….

right hand, rested the gun on his left biceps area to display it then squared off and pointed it directly at his face. Moments later, Pranke took Exit 156 by Marathon City but continued eastbound.

Officers were notified of the incident and were told to be on the lookout for the blue and red truck that Pranke was driving eastbound on Hwy. 29.

The complainant made a second call to 911 to report that Pranke was catching up to him for a second time and he was scared that he was going to be shot.

An officer was able to catch up to Pranke as he was exiting onto 52 Parkway in Wausau. The officer trailed Pranke into the Kwik Trip parking lot where he was placed under arrest without incident.

Pranke then told the officer that he was traveling home from Winona, Minn. and got on Hwy. 29 from Hwy 73 in Clark County. He said when he got to the bottom of the on-ramp, a vehicle cut him off and slammed on the brakes. He said they both continued eastbound on Hwy. 29 somewhere near Abbotsford when the vehicle reduced its speed to 55 miles per hour and turned on its windshield wipers and misted Pranke.

Pranke said he backed off and exited at the Marathon City exit to avoid going back and forth with the vehicle. He said he pointed his cell phone at the other man because, “I was going to call the cops or record him, one or the other.”

Pranke denied pointing the handgun at the complainant. He said he had a .380 handgun in the vehicle in his cooler and OK’d the officers to confirm it was there. The officers found the handgun to be easily accessible with a fullyloaded, six-round magazine seated in the handgun. The gun was seized as evidence.

Officers called the complainant to confirm that he was sure it was a handgun that was pointed at him while on the road. The complainant stated he was certain and said he was quite familiar with guns so there was no doubt it was a handgun that was pointed.

Pranke is out on a $10,000 signature bond but was ordered to not have contact with the complainant and can not have possession of any dangerous weapons.

A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 7. If convicted of all three counts, Pranke could face up to 10 years in jail and $46,000 in fines.