A 37-year-old man was arrested early Wednesday after allegedly brandishing a handgun at a victim outside an AMPM in north Fresno and later being found driving under the influence with a child in the vehicle, the Fresno Police Department told GV Wire.

Officers were dispatched around 12:06 a.m. to the 6000 block of North Blackstone Avenue for a report of a firearm being brandished.

Police said a victim reported that a man approached him, engaged in small talk, then pulled out a handgun and ordered him to walk over. The victim ran to a parked car in an attempt to escape, but the suspect followed and continued to threaten him with the firearm.

The victim ran across Bullard Avenue to a car lot, called 911, and contacted a security guard to report the incident. He later returned to the AMPM and provided a statement to officers.

While officers were taking the report, the suspect returned to the parking lot in a vehicle. The victim identified the vehicle, and police said the suspect left the area heading northbound on Blackstone Avenue after noticing officers.

Officers later located the vehicle at Sierra and Blackstone avenues and detained the occupants. As officers opened a door, they observed what appeared to be a handgun barrel protruding from a black backpack on the front passenger floorboard.

Victim Positively Identifies Suspect

Police identified the driver as Lane Kelly Whittenberg, 37, and the victim positively identified him as the suspect in the earlier confrontation.

Officers also found an open container of alcohol in the vehicle. A DUI investigation was conducted and police determined Whittenberg was driving under the influence. Records checks showed he also had a prior felony conviction.

Whittenberg was arrested on multiple charges, including weapons-related offenses, ammunition possession by a prohibited person, criminal threats, and child endangerment, after a 3-year-old child was found to be a passenger in the vehicle.

He was booked into the Fresno County Jail. A hold was placed on the child, and a female passenger was cited for child endangerment and released at the scene.

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