Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Road Rage with Weapons Incident

ROAD RAGE INCIDENT ON H.E. BAILY TURNPIKE INVOLVING DISCHARGE OF FIREARM LANDS LAWTON MAN IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR TEN YEARS – 

 

OKLAHOMA CITY – Today, NATHAN R. ROLLINS, JR., 29, of Lawton, Oklahoma, was sentenced to serve 120 months in prison for possessing a firearm after a prior felony conviction, stemming from a road rage incident on the H.E. Bailey Turnpike in Lawton, Oklahoma, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.

According to court records and proceedings, on December 11, 2019, Rollins was the driver of a vehicle with passenger and co-defendant, Martavious Gross.  When Rollins and Gross believed they were cut off by another driver on the turnpike, Gross rolled down his window, yelled at the other driver, made obscene gestures.  Rollins slowed down for a moment and then sped up to catch the other vehicle.  When they caught up to the other vehicle, Gross brandished a firearm for the driver of the other vehicle to see, and then fired at the vehicle with the handgun.

In responding to a 911 call, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper located Rollins’ vehicle, clocking it at 106 miles per hour.  After stopping the vehicle, the Trooper found an AR-15 rifle loaded with a high capacity magazine, the handgun that was fired in the incident, two black masks, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.  Rollins and Gross were then arrested.

On January 8, 2020, Rollins was charged with possession of a firearm after a felony conviction.  On February 26, 2020, he pled guilty and admitted to unlawful possession of the AR-15 rifle.  Today, Senior U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton sentenced Rollins to serve 120 months in prison, the statutory maximum for the offense, followed by three years of supervised release.  In imposing the sentence, the Judge not only considered the serious nature of Rollins’ crime, but also his lengthy history of domestic violence, including a conviction in 2019 in Comanche County for domestic assault and battery by strangulation, and his history of abusing firearms.   The Judge concluded that a lengthy sentence was necessary to protect the public from Rollins’ escalating pattern of violent conduct.

On March 10, 2020, co-defendant Gross pled guilty to illegal possession of a firearm while being subject to a domestic violence protective order.  He is currently in custody and awaiting sentencing.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistant United States Attorney Wilson D. McGarry prosecuted the case.