On Wednesday afternoon, a road rage incident turned near-fatal for a Hawthorne driver after a 50-year-old Leesburg resident allegedly stabbed him multiple times on the side of the road.
According to the arrest report, Jean Van Damme and the victim were driving down the highway in Hawthorne when they were involved in a road rage incident.
Both drivers pulled off to the side of the road, the report said, where they got out of their cars and argued. When the victim went to walk away, Van Damme allegedly spit on him.
The victim then punched Van Damme in the face, leading Van Damme to pull out a knife and slice the victim with it as he tried to get away, according to the arrest report. They both ended up on the ground, and Van Damme then stabbed the victim..
Two bystanders eventually pulled Van Damme off of the man, who had multiple stab wounds and cuts, according to the report.
Van Damme then left the area in a SUV, according to an ACSO Facebook post.
Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies then found the car and closed down traffic on the highway while they pulled Van Damme over. Deputies wrote that Van Damme did not listen to orders to get out of the car, deputies used a police dog to arrest him, according to the Facebook post.
“Had the defendant not been pulled away from the victim, he may have caused the death of the victim,” the arrest report said.
The entire incident was caught on a nearby surveillance camera. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s department said the office would not release the video to The Alligator because it belongs to the business that owns the camera.
The victim is being treated at Shands Hospital, and Van Damme is being charged with attempted murder, according to the arrest report. A sheriff’s department spokesperson said the office would not release more information and did not know the victim’s condition as of noon Thursday.
Contact Alexa Ryan at aryan@alligator.org Follow her on X @AlexaRyan_
Alexa is a second-year journalism and international studies students serving as the Fall 2025 Criminal Justice beat reporter. She previously served as a copy editor. She spends her free time running, traveling, having movie nights and going on random side quests with friends.
