Police seek driver in Route 9 road rage

BAILEYVILLE – Police were searching Tuesday night for a driver who allegedly pointed a handgun at a tractor-trailer driver in what appears to be a road-rage incident on Route 9.

The incident began around 1 p.m. Tuesday when the drivers of a tractor-trailer and a car apparently got into a dispute over switching lanes about 30 miles south of the junction of state Route 9 and U.S. Route 1, Police Chief Phil Harriman said.

“When those vehicles made it to the intersection at the Route 9 stop sign, the tractor-trailer driver exited his vehicle and the person in the car then pointed a [handgun] at the tractor-trailer driver,” Harriman said.

“The tractor-trailer driver backed off.” the chief said. The motorist sped away.

Baileyville police were notified and they, along with officers of the Maine State Police and Calais Police Department, searched for the car all afternoon.

There was a report on the scanner that the motorist may have had a dog with him.

Harriman said the incident remained under investigation. He said he would not release the name of the tractor-trailer driver or information about the car “for fear it might jeopardize the investigation.”

This is the second firearms incident in the community in the past three days, the chief said.

On Sunday, Chester L. Kulak, 77, of Baileyville was arrested at his home on Main Street after he allegedly fired shots outside an Oxford Street home.

Three people were in the yard of the home at the time. No one was injured. Kulak was charged with reckless conduct with a firearm.