NILES, Ohio (WKBN) — A Vienna man accused of threatening two women in a gas station parking lot is facing criminal charges.

Two women reported pulling into the parking lot at the Country Fair in Niles around 11 p.m. Wednesday night when a man almost backed into their car and then threatened them, police said.

“There was apparently some words exchanged in the parking lot of a local gas station about a perceived near collision in a parking lot,” Niles police Capt. John Marshall said.

The women reported the driver of a red truck was backing out of a spot when it nearly hit them. They said he then got out of the truck, threatening to beat them up and shoot them, and said to “call her husband and that he would shoot him, too,” according to police.

“It seems like a massive overreaction to somebody either honking the horn or saying, ‘Hey, buddy, you almost hit us,'” Marshall said.

Dispatcher: “911. Where is your emergency?”
Caller: “Um, I’m at this gas station. This dude just threatened my mom, saying that he had a pistol on him and that he was going to pop it.”

The truck’s driver, whom police identified as Joshua Ocheltree, was located in Vienna, where he was arrested during a traffic stop of a vehicle matching the women’s description. According to the police report, officers collected a 9mm handgun with a gold slide, ammunition and holsters as evidence.

Ocheltree is facing two counts of misdemeanor aggravated menacing and is in jail on $100,000 bond.

Jail records show Ocheltree was arrested on similar charges in 2019.

“It’s definitely concerning that — given that history, and given the very minor incident that occurred that provoked that kind of response — what potentially could occur if somebody loses control of their emotions and reacts that way,” Marshall said.