If you’re going to get mad at someone on the road, we suggest not pointing a gun at them. Further, if you want to avoid getting caught, perhaps you should not swap license plates to fool the police. A Florida man is facing multiple felony charges after deputies say he pointed a handgun at another driver during a road rage confrontation. He then allegedly switched his vehicle’s license plate to avoid being identified.
According to WFLA, the suspect was identified as 29-year-old Jordan Patascher. The confrontation was captured on camera. Deputies said that when they arrived, they learned one driver had threatened another by displaying a handgun during an argument. Dashcam video released by the sheriff’s office shows a vehicle driving alongside another in highway traffic, with a man holding what appears to be a handgun near an open window and pointing it toward the neighboring vehicle.
As the investigation progressed, deputies determined that Patascher had allegedly switched his vehicle’s license plate shortly after the incident to avoid being identified. It looks like that maneuver did not succeed. In fact, it ended up making the vehicle a lot more suspicious since they were able to determine this was an action he had taken.
The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office arrested Patascher on July 31 in connection with the Hillsborough County investigation. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and driving while his license was revoked.
In this situation, there were no injuries or actual issues caused by the road rage incident, but the man still ended up with plenty of charges levied against him.
What the Charges Mean in Florida
A road rage incident on I-75 has led to the arrest of Jordan Patascher, 29.
On July 29, 2026, just before 6:30 p.m., #teamHCSO responded to I-75 southbound near the US-301 exit. Deputies learned Patascher threatened another driver and displayed a handgun during the encounter. As… pic.twitter.com/dWuqD1ThWo
— HCSO (@HCSOSheriff) August 4, 2026
These charges are pretty serious, especially in Florida. Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon is a third-degree felony in the state, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. Pointing a firearm at another person makes it worse – but possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years on its own, and it’s a separate offense that turns on the person’s prior record rather than the road rage itself.
Driving with a revoked license is a third-degree felony in Florida, applied when someone has accumulated enough serious violations or suspensions to be classified as a habitual offender. Taken together, the counts could expose Patascher to well over a decade in prison if he is convicted of all of them.
Being charged is not the same as being convicted, and a prosecutor decides what charges to pursue after reviewing the case. Anyone arrested is presumed innocent unless and until a court finds otherwise.
Why Swapping a License Plate Makes a Case Worse
Changing a license plate to dodge identification is its own offense in Florida. State law makes it a crime to knowingly attach a license plate that was not assigned to a vehicle. The plate itself is often the single most useful piece of identifying information a victim or a camera captures in a road rage encounter. That’s exactly why swapping it is an attempt to break the chain that leads investigators back to the driver. In this case, it failed.
In fact, it rarely works and often makes the punishment even worse in the end. Dashcam and surveillance footage, witness descriptions of the vehicle and driver, toll and traffic cameras, and cellphone records provide investigators with multiple independent means to identify a suspect, even when a plate has been changed. An attempt to conceal your identity after the fact can also be used as evidence of consciousness of guilt. In this case, neither waving a gun around or changing the plates worked out for the offender.
And if you take anything away from this, it’s that neither is something you should be attempting in the future, either.