GLENMONT – Rush hour on Rt 9w had a different feel yesterday as a man wielding a BB gun stopped traffic at the corner of the busy thoroughfare and Corning Hill rd yesterday afternoon.
The man blocked the roadway with his vehicle and pointed the gun, which was a replica AR-15, at motorists at approximately 3:38 pm.
“He then travelled down Kenwood Avenue towards Delmar,” Commander James Rexford said. “The second call came in 4 to 5 minutes later when he was in the area of St. Thomas’ School.”
He then stopped his vehicle again and brandished the weapon towards other motorists. He then fled before police arrived at the second scene.
“Without the tip on the replica, it really looks like a firearm and it has about the same weight as the real thing,” Rexford said. “It looks real.”
The car was traced to the residence of Jason M. Belleville, 40, of Glenmont and Bethlehem Police, along with the Albany County Sheriff’s Department Emergency Response Team, executed a search warrant at the residence. The imitation firearm and vehicle involved in the incident were seized during the search.
Belleville was charged with Menacing, Criminal Possession of a Weapon, and Reckless Endangerment (all misdemeanors) and arraigned in Town of Bethlehem Court and released.
The Bethlehem Police Department requests that anyone who thinks they may have been a witness to the crime to contact the Bethlehem Police Department at 518-439-9973