A Winder man has been charged with multiple offenses, including two counts of impersonating a police officer, after authorities said he displayed a handgun during a road rage episode in Barrow County.
Jeffrey Craig Hatcher also was charged with two counts each of felony aggravated assault and terroristic threats in connection with the incident shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday on eastbound Ga. 316 near Patrick Mill Road, according to the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office.
An incident report obtained by Channel 2 Action News said a sheriff's deputy responding to a report of a road rage incident involving a firearm pulled over Hatcher's black Chevrolet Tahoe in the parking lot of a Chick-Fil-A restaurant.
Two men who said they had been threatened by Hatcher also pulled into the parking lot in their car, a white Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
The 48-year-old Hatcher told the deputy he is a security guard who carries a firearm as part of his job, and that the gun was in the center console of the Tahoe. The deputy retrieved a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver and a guard’s badge.
The two men in the Chevy accused Hatcher of pointing a chrome revolver at them, but Hatcher denied displaying a gun, the incident report said. Hatcher told deputies that he had tried to pass the other car, but it would not let him pass. He was placed under arrest.
While transporting Hatcher to the Barrow County Detention Center, a deputy asked if he understood why he was being taken to the jail. The incident report said that Hatcher replied, “When you show people a badge they automatically assume you have a gun.”
Hatcher was charged and booked into jail, the gun and badge were entered into evidence, and his Tahoe was towed. He posted $25,000 bond and was released Sunday, according to the Barrow Sheriff's Office.
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