Road rage incident leads to Bellevue man’s sentencing

U.S. District Judge Robert F. Rossiter Jr. sentenced Leslie Graber to 84 months of imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A road rage incident in Bellevue led to a man being convicted and sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office.

U.S. District Judge Robert F. Rossiter Jr. sentenced Leslie Graber, 34, to 84 months of imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On Aug. 13, 2020, Bellevue Police responded to a road rage incident on Highway 75.  The victim told officers that the driver of the vehicle in front of him slammed on the brakes, possibly to “brake check” him.

He then tried to go around the driver, Graber, to pass him.

As they neared an off-ramp to Chandler Road in Bellevue, Graber pointed a gun at the victim.  Sometime after the incident, he tossed the gun, the press release says.

The next day, a caller notified Bellevue Police that he had found a gun lying in the grass on his property.

Officers retrieved the gun and took it in for DNA analysis.

The tests showed a match with Graber’s DNA.  The gun had also been reported stolen in a home burglary, according to the press release.

At the time, Graber had been on federal supervised release for a prior conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm in November 2019.

An arrest warrant for violations of supervised release was issued for Graber on Jan. 15, 2021.  Additional felony warrants were issued for him in Sarpy County on Feb. 20, 2021, for being a felon in possession of a firearm, use of a weapon to commit a felony, terroristic threats, assault and theft.

Graber had threatened another person with a gun while wearing body armor marked “Police,” according to the press release.

That led to Graber’s conviction in Sarpy County District Court for attempted use of a firearm and terroristic threats.

Graber will serve an additional three-year term of supervised release after his prison sentence.  There is no parole in the federal system.