By Tracie Sullivan, For Iron County Today
A Cedar City man is facing multiple charges after a road rage incident earlier this month that police say involved reckless driving and the brandishing of a weapon resembling a firearm.
Barry Donald Chalmers, 47, was arrested on November 11 following a week-long investigation.
He is facing multiple charges: possession of a firearm by a restricted person and obstruction of justice, both third-degree felonies; reckless endangerment and reckless driving, both Class A misdemeanors; and threat of violence, a Class B misdemeanor.
According to court records filed in 5th District Court, Chalmers allegedly brandished a pepperball gun — a non-lethal weapon designed to fire rubber or pepper-filled projectiles — during a confrontation and attempted to conceal it afterward.
While the pepperball gun is not a traditional firearm, its alleged use in a threatening manner led to the weapon-related charges.
The incident began around 1:27 p.m. on Nov. 2 when police were dispatched to a report of a weapons offense.
The complainant claimed that Chalmers had brandished a weapon out of his truck window during a road rage encounter. Officers later located Chalmers at a gas station, where he was detained.
Dashcam footage from Chalmers’s vehicle, reviewed by police, allegedly showed both Chalmers and the complainant engaging in questionable driving behavior.
The footage revealed the complainant brake-checked Chalmers, swerved to block his attempt to pass on the shoulder, and later crossed double yellow lines to pass him after Chalmers slowed down.
Chalmers’s actions reportedly escalated the situation further, including passing over double yellow lines, abruptly slowing down, and exiting his vehicle to confront the complainant. At one point, the affidavit states, that Chalmers exited his vehicle and approached the complainant’s car before returning to his truck.
On Kitty Hawk Drive, the footage showed Chalmers stopping again, opening his tailgate, and handling an orange case that police later confirmed contained the pepperball gun. This location matched where officers eventually found the weapon during their search.
During questioning, Chalmers denied possessing a firearm, claiming he only held a phone during the altercation.
However, when questioned about the pepperball gun later found in his truck, the officer expressed skepticism about Chalmers’s claims.
“I told Barry I found it hard to believe that someone from small-town Cedar City, Utah, would mistake a phone for a gun and further explained that Preston said he hung the gun out of the driver’s window of the truck,” court records state.
Chalmers voluntarily allowed officers to search his vehicle, where they discovered the pepperball gun in the truck bed. He later claimed he moved the gun earlier to make room for his daughter, but this account allegedly conflicted with dashcam footage and his daughter’s statements to police.
“When Officers spoke with her, she informed them that Barry did have the kinetic pepperball gun in the cab of the pickup and that he moved it after the incident occurred to the bed area of the pickup,” the affidavit states.
When confronted with his daughter’s comments, Chalmers said, “he moved the case and gun from the back seat to the bed of the truck so his daughter could put her feet down on the floor.”
Court records report that when confronted with what his daughter told police, Chalmers accused her of lying, stating she was “scared to death of us.”
Chalmers was arrested at his home a week after the incident, following a thorough review of the dashcam footage and video from Maverik to give investigators time to piece together what occurred.
Police requested Chalmers be held without bail, citing a risk to public safety and potential flight.