- Mark David Mathis, 55, faces charges of stalking and impersonating an officer.
- Mathis allegedly followed and threatened a driver by telling him ICE was coming for him.
- Police tracked Mathis using video evidence from the victim's cellphone.
PROVO — A Provo man was charged Thursday with threatening a driver in an alleged road rage confrontation and also telling the victim that "ICE is coming." Prosecutors have also accused him of impersonating a law enforcer.
Mark David Mathis, 55, is charged in 4th District Court with stalking, a third-degree felony; plus impersonation of an officer, making a threat of violence, and committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, class A misdemeanors. All the charges come with potential road rage penalty enhancements if convicted.
On Jan. 25, a man was driving home with his wife and children near 500 W. Cougar Blvd. when he "changed lanes, upsetting the driver behind him." That driver, Mathis, "accelerated, pulling close behind (the victim) and repeatedly honked his horn," according to charging documents.
Fearing Mathis would follow him home, the victim opted to drive in a different direction, police say. After losing sight of Mathis, the man headed home.
But while the victim was in his driveway, Mathis pulled up, "got out of his vehicle, walked toward (the man and a family member) and said, 'The cops are coming.' Mathis then spoke into a radio he was holding, saying, 'I got the Jeep,'" the charges state.
"Mathis continued speaking into the radio, reading off (the man's) license plate number," according to the charges. He then allegedly told the victim, "It's going down bro. I hope you got your papers. ICE is coming man," and "You're so… lucky I ain't armed right now" before threatening to shoot the victim and using a racial slur.
Prosecutors say the victim was recording Mathis on his cellphone at this time. Using that video, police tracked down Mathis on Jan. 30.
When officers questioned Mathis, he admitted following the victim home, "stating that he did so out of rage of the incident and because he wanted (the man) to be in fear like Mathis was when he 'almost crashed,'" the charges allege. "Mathis admitted to using his radio and telling (the man) that he was an agent because he felt like it made it 'more believable.'"
