JULY 10, 2023 (LEXINGTON, NEB.) — Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol, with assistance from the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and the Lexington Police Department, have arrested a Colorado man after he reportedly pointed a rifle at another person at the I-80 Eastbound Rest Area near Cozad.
At approximately 8:55 a.m. Sunday, NSP received a report of a verbal altercation between two men at the I-80 rest area at mile marker 226. The reporting party stated that the man he was arguing with pulled out a rifle and pointed it towards him. The reporting party observed the other man place the rifle into a minivan, then get into a different vehicle. The suspect’s vehicle, a Chevrolet Malibu, and the minivan then departed the rest area together, eastbound on I-80.
Troopers were able to locate the Malibu near mile marker 233 and perform a traffic stop. The driver, Jonah McKinley, 28, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was taken into custody. Dawson County Sheriff’s Deputies were able to locate the minivan and perform a traffic stop. Deputies located the rifle, which was defaced, in the minivan, which was being driven by McKinley’s girlfriend.
Troopers also discovered that McKinley is prohibited from possessing a firearm and was in violation of a protection order held by his girlfriend against him. He was arrested for making terroristic threats, use of a firearm to commit a felony, possession of a defaced firearm, possession of a short rifle, violation of a protection order, and no operator’s license. He was lodged in Dawson County Jail.
