Kittery man faces gun charge in N.H.

DOVER, N.H. – A Maine man charged with flashing a gun during a road incident in New Hampshire said he merely was waving a cell phone and threatening to call police.

Police charged Patrick Peluso, 27, of Kittery, Maine, with criminal threatening, driving with a suspended license and illegal possession of a prescription drug in Thursday afternoon’s incident. They are sticking by their charges.

Investigators said a driver called on a cell phone to say another driver in a pickup was trying to run him off the road and had waved a handgun.

Eventually, both drivers were on the phone to police, who directed them to pull over and stay apart. When officers arrived, they seized a .45-caliber automatic from Peluso’s vehicle. He said he has a permit and the weapon was locked in his glove box.

Peluso said the other driver, who was not identified, tried to run him off the road, so he waved a cell phone in the window, threatening to call police.

“He was chasing us,” Peluso said. “Why would I call the police department if I waved a gun at somebody?”

Police Lt. Brian Estee said police had good reason to charge Peluso.

“We have witnesses who were able to vividly describe that this individual was displaying a handgun during this incident,” Estee said Saturday. “We wouldn’t have charged him with criminal threatening using a handgun if we didn’t feel we had probable cause to do that.”