Repeat offender arrested at Publix, sentenced to six months in prison

A repeat offender arrested last year at a Publix grocery store in The Villages has been sentenced to six months in prison.

Grant Mitchell Patterson III, 32, of Belleview, pleaded no contest last week in Sumter County Court to a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In addition to six months in jail, he was placed on 30 months of probation and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

Last September, a woman said she pulled into the Publix at Southern Trace Plaza around the same time another Patterson was also pulling into the parking lot, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The woman wasn’t sure what sparked the road rage incident, but she became concerned when Patterson, whom she didn’t know, pulled into the parking lot near where she was about to park.

The woman said she rolled down her passenger window in an attempt to “work things out” with Patterson. However, he brandished a “big knife” and called the woman a “fat bitch.” He threatened to slit her throat and said he would “kill her no problem.” She was able to obtain a photo of him and his vehicle’s license plate.

Patterson then returned to the store and was spotted by a deputy who took him into custody.

In 2020, Patterson was arrested after brandishing a knife during another road rage incident in The Villages. However, charges in the case were later dropped by the prosecutor's office.