A Clermont man wound up in jail with a slashed arm following a road rage incident that started in Minneola and ended with a confrontation at a red light in Leesburg.
David Eugene Hodge, 54, was charged with burglary with assault or battery after the incident, which turned violent Sunday afternoon at the intersection of North 14th Street and Dixie Avenue.
A Leesburg police officer responded to the scene at around 12:45 p.m. and found the victim covered in blood.  The victim said he was stopped at the red light when a unknown man – later identified as Hodge – got out of his Hyundai Santa Fe and started punching him repeatedly through the open driver’s-side window, according to the police report.
The victim told the officer he had seat belt on and was unable to defend himself due to being restrained. He said he reached into his center console, grabbed a knife and swung it in the direction of Hodge. The victim said he didn’t know if he stabbed Hodge because he was busy being struck, the report said.
The victim said he got out of the vehicle Hodge pulled him to the ground, where they fought for a few minutes before separating. The officer observed some abrasions on the victim’s neck from the seat belt but did not see any other marks or bruises on him, according to the report.
A witness told the officer he saw Hodge get out of the vehicle at the red light and approach the victim’s vehicle. He said Hodge was yelling at the victim and striking him through the open window. The witness then got out of his vehicle and saw Hodge bleeding from his left forearm, the report said.
The officer later spoke with Hodge, who had bandages around his left forearm. Hodge said the road rage confrontation started when the victim drove past him at a high speed and then slowed down once in front. He said the victim did this multiple times, and at one point brandished a hammer towards him, according to the report.
Hodge said they stopped at a red light at North 14th Street and Dixie Avenue, where he got out of his vehicle to confront the victim about his reckless driving. He said the victim grabbed a knife and stabbed him, and then got out of the vehicle and tried to stab him again. Hodge denied striking the victim, the report said.
Hodge’s wife told the officer the victim tried to stab Hodge multiple times. She said she didn’t see Hodge strike the victim. Officers searched the victim’s vehicle and found the knife and hammer. The knife was a tri-edge with dry blood on the tip and the handle. There was also blood on the driver’s side door and inside the vehicle, according to the report.
Hodge was released from the Lake County Jail on $25,000 bond and will appear in Lake County Court on Jan. 9.
