'Juggalo' man who threatened woman over traffic incident gets preliminary hearing date

A preliminary hearing has been set in the case of a man who police say threatened a woman with a hatchet over a traffic altercation.

Robin C. Shelman, 24, of Oklahoma City, Okla., who told police he was a "Juggalo," or fan of the Detroit-based band Insane Clown Posse, faces charges for unlawful use of a weapon and assault on law enforcement.

During his first court appearance Thursday before Cape Girardeau County Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp, Shelman was appointed a public defender to his case and a preliminary hearing was set for 9 a.m. April 15.

Cape Girardeau police arrested Shelman on March 14 after a witness called to report an altercation near Steak-N-Shake.

The witness told police he saw a small, lime green car cut off another vehicle, and both pulled over into the parking lot of Steak-N-Shake.

, according to a probable-cause statement. The drivers were engaged in a heated argument, yelling profanities at one another, when the witness saw the man who'd been driving the green car, later identified as Shelman, appear to threaten the unidentified woman.

When police spotted Shelman's car a short time later at South Kingshighway and Bloomfield Street, they recovered a small hatchet and a pocketknife, according to the probable-cause statement. As the officers were arresting Shelman, he began kicking at one of them, according to the statement.

Shelman initially lied to officers about his correct name but was later identified through fingerprint records sent to the FBI, said Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

Shelman, who had been wearing an Insane Clown Posse T-shirt at the time of his arrest, had a "Juggalo" sticker on his car, and wore the band's logo, a clown bearing a hatchet, on his belt buckle, Swingle said.

Swingle included with the arresting documents filed with the court a Wikipedia page describing crimes commonly associated with Juggalos, many of them involving hatchets.

Swingle said it was the first time he'd ever encountered a Juggalo, and that it was "interesting to learn a new word."

"Nothing worse than a Juggalo with road rage," he said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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