What started as a mini-bear jam in Yellowstone National Park reportedly turned into a prolonged case of road rage before ending in a DUI arrest outside Cody.

Court records quote the eventual defendant, Arthur H. Mitchell, as saying things began on the afternoon of June 14, when he stopped to look at a bear in the park.

The 74-year-old Virginian reportedly told the Park County Sheriff’s Office that he stopped in the middle of the road, which prompted the driver of a silver Malibu to curse at him for slowing traffic. The incident upset Mitchell, so he began “following the silver sedan too closely,” Deputy Andrew Gibson wrote in an affidavit.

The two men later pulled over and got into an argument on the side of a park road, the affidavit says, and the dispute escalated from there. The affidavit quotes Mitchell as saying that he “slapped [the other man] in the face softly with an open hand” and hit the window of the man’s Malibu with his fist; Mitchell also said the other man claimed to have a gun.

After the men got back into their vehicles, Mitchell reportedly recalled tailgating the other driver as they headed out of Yellowstone and east on U.S. Highway 14/16/20 toward Cody.

Around 4 p.m., the sheriff’s office received a report of the road rage incident and a deputy spotted the two vehicles near the Buffalo Bill Reservoir; they soon pulled off the highway. 

While visiting with the men, Deputy Jake Larsen noticed that Mitchell had an open container of White Claw — a brand of alcoholic seltzer — in his Nissan and smelled like alcohol. Mitchell also reportedly peed his pants while talking to the deputy, though the septuagenarian later claimed the accident was due to his age.

The suspect reportedly told authorities that he drank White Claw and wine and smoked a small amount of marijuana in the hours before the traffic stop; the sheriff’s office reportedly found a partial bottle of wine and an open container of THC gummies in the car, along with a prescription medication that is not supposed to be mixed with alcohol, Gibson wrote.

The deputy arrested Mitchell on suspicion of driving while under the influence while citing him for following too closely and warning him for possession of a controlled substance.

Mitchell pleaded not guilty to the two charges during a June 15 appearance in Park County Circuit Court. Judge Joey Darrah allowed the Virginia man to be on his own recognizance pending a Nov. 5 trial date.