A Batesville man has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to threatening another driver with a loaded firearm during a road rage incident earlier this year.
Michael Wayne Fraley, 50, entered a negotiated guilty plea on Tuesday in Independence County Circuit Court to one count of aggravated assault, classified as a Class D felony, according to court records.
Judge Tim Weaver of Arkansas's Sixteenth Judicial Circuit sentenced Fraley to 36 months of probation and ordered him to have no contact with the victim. Fraley was also directed to pay court costs and fines in monthly installments of $100.
The charges stem from a February 7 confrontation in Batesville. According to police, Fraley followed another driver to a bank parking lot on Eagle Mountain Boulevard after a dispute that began on Harrison Street. The victim told investigators he drove to the bank because he believed the presence of surveillance cameras would ensure his safety.
A probable cause affidavit stated that Fraley exited his vehicle in the parking lot and approached the other driver’s car while shouting. Video reportedly captured by a bank employee’s cell phone showed Fraley reaching into the victim's vehicle.
The victim alleged that he reached for his glove box to retrieve his own firearm, prompting Fraley to draw a loaded revolver and point it at his head.
Fraley later told officers he followed the other driver because his son had been a passenger in his truck at the time of the dispute. Witnesses told police Fraley was the primary aggressor during the incident.
Authorities recovered a loaded .357 revolver from Fraley’s residence following a search consented to by both him and his wife. He was arrested and booked into the Independence County Detention Center later that day.
Court documents show that as part of his sentencing, Fraley must comply with probation requirements, including the prohibition on contacting the victim.