A 19-year-old Newnan man was arrested Monday after an incident of road rage led to several charges when police searched his vehicle, authorities said.
Jonathan Christian Thomas Bone is charged with pointing a gun at another, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Newnan police responded to the incident on Bullsboro Road just after 7 p.m. According to the incident report, 38-year-old Ben Coney said he was traveling westbound when he noticed a white Honda Civic swerving within the lane behind him. He thought the vehicle was attempting to pass him.
When the Civic was able to change lanes, it pulled up beside Coney’s truck and the driver began to yell and curse at him through an open window. Coney told police that the driver said, “I’ve got something for you,” then pointed a black handgun at him. Coney said he pulled off the road and called police.
While an officer took Coney’s statement, another Newnan police officer recognized Bone’s vehicle from the radio description. That led to a traffic stop and officers questioning Bone, who was accompanied by his girlfriend.
According to the incident report, Bone told police that the gun was a replica airsoft gun modeled after a Colt 1911 semi-automatic pistol. Bone was placed under arrest and charged with unlawfully brandishing a replica firearm with the intent of representing it as a real handgun.
After he was handcuffed and put into the patrol car, he asked officers to get his cellphone from his vehicle.
At that point, they said they smelled marijuana in the car. Police then searched the vehicle and found a sealed plastic bag in the trunk filled with three individually portioned bags of marijuana with a total weight of more than three ounces.
Additionally, they said they found a glass jar under the driver’s seat containing more marijuana that weighed nearly half an ounce. Also in the trunk, officers found a firearms case that contained a disassembled black Ruger precision rifle with a loaded magazine.
Police seized the airsoft replica pistol, rifle, marijuana and a marijuana pipe at the scene and entered them into evidence. Bone was then booked into the Coweta County Jail. He was released on bond Tuesday.
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