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(Aimee Green/The Oregonian)

Multnomah County prosecutors have decided not to pursue charges against the owner of the Mr. Formal tuxedo chain after the driver of a pickup truck accused him of pointing a pistol during a January road-rage incident.

Chuck Sparks, chief deputy district attorney, said Tuesday that his office isn’t pursuing charges against Edwin Honeycutt III because the driver of the pickup truck didn’t wish to go forward with a prosecution.

According to a police report released Tuesday, Timothy James Short, 49, told Portland police that he'd be satisfied if Honeycutt lost his concealed weapons permit. According to court papers Honeycutt filed last week, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office revoked his permit because of the incident.

Short called police at about 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 to report that the driver of a silver Landrover -- later identified as 59-year-old Honeycutt -- was following his GMC pickup closely and driving recklessly, the police report says. Short said after he stopped at a red light at Southeast McLoughlin and Holgate boulevards, Honeycutt pulled up next to him.

Short claims he waved a white tissue “as a sign of truce,” according to the report. But Honeycutt rolled down his window and pointed a semi-automatic handgun with -- the laser sight activated -- at him. Short said Honeycutt said, “This is what I do!”

Short claims he said he was “calling the cops,” and that spurred Honeycutt to drive off.

Honeycutt owns one of the largest apparel-based chains in the Portland area. He founded Mr. Formal 38 years ago, and its website lists 23 locations in Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho.

Based on Honeycutt's license plate, it didn't take three police officers long to track him down at the Mr. Formal location at 1205 S.E. Grand Ave., where Honeycutt told his side of the story. Honeycutt said he noticed the GMC pickup driving recklessly on Interstate 5, and he worried the driver was going to "kill someone," according to the report. He said he tried to call 911 and then the non-emergency number but couldn't get through to a dispatcher.

Honeycutt told police that the pickup, which was occupied by the driver and two other men, pulled up beside him at a stoplight. Honeycutt said the driver, Short, waved a white cloth and said something about “tears.” Honeycutt said he didn’t know what the driver meant by this gesture, but all three of the pickup’s occupants looked rough, so he stopped following.

Officer Paul Park wrote in his report that he asked Honeycutt when he thought it would be OK to display a handgun, and Honeycutt responded by saying he never “brandished” a handgun at Short. Honeycutt then showed the officer where he kept the gun in his Land Rover.

“I asked Honeycutt how Short could have described the handgun with such accuracy, down to the laser sight, had Honeycutt not brandished the weapon,” the officer wrote. “Honeycutt conceded that he had held the firearm on his leg during the incident, but did not point it at Short.”

In court papers demanding the return of his handgun last week, Honeycutt stated that he was the victim of road-rage inflicted by the occupants of the pickup. Honeycutt wrote that the young men were "yelling at me and taunting me," and he worried they might assault him. So he says he removed his Ruger .380 automatic pistol from its case and placed "it beside me on the front console next to my seat in my car."

It’s unclear if Honeycutt -- who has no criminal history -- will get his gun back. It’s up to the Portland Police Bureau to release the gun back to Honeycutt, now that the District Attorney’s Office no longer needs it as evidence.

Honeycutt has said he plans to apply for a new concealed weapons permit.

-- Aimee Green