A judge on Friday found sufficient evidence to continue with the trial against a former Signal Hill police officer accused of pulling a gun on another driver in an alleged road rage incident on the I-5 freeway in Orange County.

Jacob Emory Swigger, 39, of Lake Forest is charged with two felony counts of excessive force by a police officer and assault with a firearm in connection with a confrontation on the northbound I-5 in Irvine on Nov. 20, prosecutors said.

Authorities said Swigger was in civilian clothes and driving his personal vehicle, a black Dodge Charger, to work in morning rush hour traffic when a 50-year-old man driving a Mazda changed lanes in front of Swigger.

Swigger responded by honking and driving after the other vehicle for more than a mile, authorities said. Swigger then drove up alongside the other man’s car and swerved in front of it, forcing the driver to come to an abrupt stop, police said.

Authorities said Swigger then got out of his car in the middle of the freeway with his gun, approached the other driver, and identified himself as a police officer.

Swigger ordered the other man out of his car, and then dragged him out of the vehicle when he didn’t immediately comply, forcing him to fall to the ground.

In a preliminary hearing on Friday, two law enforcement officers said witnesses saw Swigger holding a gun to the man’s head.

California Highway Patrol Officer Cody Gil, who responded to the scene that day, said the man appeared visibly shaken. The man, who requires a cane to walk, suffered cuts and abrasions but declined treatment, he said.

“He looked like he was trembling,” Gil told Deputy District Attorney Jess Rodriguez. “He looked very scared.”

Swigger’s attorney, John Barnett, said Swigger believed his life was in danger after the man cut him off multiple times. Swigger acted within his duties as a police officer when he identified himself and ordered the man the pull over.

“What my client did was reasonable under the circumstances,” Barnett said.

Swigger, who was arrested in March, is no longer employed by the Signal Hill Police Department.

After hearing evidence, Orange County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Guerrero Macias ordered Swigger to stand trial on the two felony counts.

He remains free on $50,000 bail and is expected to return to court on Sept. 22.

Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com