A 63-year-old Florida man who allegedly pointed a gun at another vehicle during a harrowing road rage incident caught on video last week has been charged with multiple felonies, according to Port St. Lucie police.
Paul Slane faces two counts each of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and battery and a single count of robbery with a firearm, authorities said.
The heated confrontation erupted on Aug. 20 around 4:30 p.m. on Southwest Heatherwood Boulevard near Southwest California Boulevard, according to police spokesperson Sgt. Dominick Mesiti.
Moments later, police responded to an emergency call on Southwest Briarwood Drive, where Slane, driving a black Mercedes-Benz, was allegedly brake-checking the occupants of a white pickup truck, whom police identified as the victims.
“He was intentionally hitting his brakes, for no reason other than to agitate the vehicle behind him or the driver behind him,” Mesiti said, according to WFLA.
“At one point, he stopped in the roadway. Victims went around him,” Mesiti said. “They did not want a confrontation.”
Before police reached the scene, the real-life drama nearly spiraled out of control.
According to investigators, Slane aggressively trailed the pickup truck into a gated community, where the situation escalated.
At one point, Slane allegedly maneuvered his vehicle around the truck and pointed a firearm at the driver and his female passenger, Mesiti said.
Slane blocked the road by stopping his vehicle in the middle lanes, preventing the pickup from passing.
He then got out of his car, brandishing a firearm, and allegedly threatened the two occupants in the truck. What Slane didn’t know was that the other driver was also armed, a handgun ready on his lap.
“He’s cursing, he’s challenging the driver … to get out of the truck while he’s armed with the handgun,” Mesiti said.
The passenger in the pickup began recording with her cellphone, while the driver showed incredible restraint, never pointing his own gun, though he was thinking about it — at one point he turned to his passenger and plainly asked, “Should I shoot him?” Mesiti said, confirmed by the video.
“At one point, as the suspect armed with his handgun is walking to the truck, the driver asked the passenger, ‘Should I shoot him?’” Mesiti said.
Slane also walked up on the driver’s open window, allegedly struck the man with his free hand and at the same time attempted to snatch the passenger’s phone when he noticed she was filming him, according to Mesiti.
Ultimately, what seemed destined for gunfire ended without a single shot being fired by either side.
Still, Mesiti emphasized the volatility of the moment, suggesting it could have ended much worse.
Slane’s actions in the video displayed key characteristics of road rage, including aggressive driving, intimidation, and the use of a weapon to escalate the situation.
“Get out of the f—king car now!” Slane can be heard yelling in the footage.
“You’re getting arrested, you know this, right?” one of the victims told him, fully realizing the danger of two handguns and hoping the angry man would back off.
Slane eventually got back into his vehicle and drove away, his sudden departure averting a potential shootout.
Police finally arrived and issued a be-on-the-lookout alert for the Mercedes, using the tag number to track it.
Moments later, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s deputies caught up with Slane, pulled over his car, and placed him under arrest. The officers recovered the 9mm Glock pistol allegedly used to threaten the occupants of the truck.
Slane was remanded to the St. Lucie County Jail after he refused to speak with investigators about the incident.
“He requested a lawyer,” Mesiti said. “So we only have to go on what our two victims said.”
He has since been released on a $105,000 bond.
