CHP Officer Admits Pointing Gun at 2 Men in Traffic Altercation

A California Highway Patrol officer has pleaded guilty to brandishing a gun at two men in a car at a Riverside County intersection while he was off duty last month, it was reported Wednesday.

According to Sheriff’s Department reports obtained by KNBC-TV, Officer Peter Atchley, 43, pointed a .22-caliber revolver at two men, shouted obscenities and threatened them after they did not immediately move forward when a traffic light turned green.

The reports stated that deputies smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Atchley’s breath and that he admitted having several beers about five hours before the July 1 incident.

Atchley, who has reportedly taken a leave of absence from his duties at the East Los Angeles CHP office, entered a guilty plea Aug. 6 to the misdemeanor charge of brandishing a weapon, KNBC-TV said.

Richard Buckner, 23, of Riverside told the television station that he and a passenger, John McCay, 24, of Corona were talking to friends in another car when the light at the intersection in Norco turned green.

The driver of a Ford Bronco behind him, later identified as Atchley, honked. When Buckner began driving forward, Atchley drove alongside him, and while pointing a gun at Buckner, said, “How’d you like a bullet between your eyes,” KNBC-TV reported.

Buckner told Riverside County deputies that Atchley yelled obscenities at the men, chased them and tried to run Buckner’s Fiat off the road.

“He got out of the truck and stumbled over,” Buckner told deputies. “He still had his gun in his hand. . . . He told me he could have shot me at any time.”

Buckner said he managed to disarm Atchley after a brief struggle.

The CHP said Atchley is on vacation while an internal investigation is under way.