A US Attorney who previously appeared on behalf of the government in a January 6 case has been arrested after being accused of stabbing a motorist on an Old Tampa Bay bridge.
On Tuesday, Florida Highway Patrol said that a 40-year-old Tampa man and his 43-year-old wife were driving south on Interstate 75 when they came across a vehicle stopped in the travel lanes of the Howard Frankland Bridge around 9:24 am, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The 35-year-old driver, also of Tampa, was seen slumped over in his vehicle, police said. The couple pulled in front of his vehicle to assist.
The 40-year-old man was unable to get inside the vehicle, so he walked back to his car for something that could break the window. During this, the 35-year-old woke up, accelerated forward into the couple’s vehicle, then backed up and attempted to get around their car.
The man, in his attempt to get around the car, crashed into 38-year-old Patrick Douglas Scruggs’ sedan as he was driving by the scene.
Highway Patrol said that Scruggs pulled over, got out of his car, and approached the driver of the vehicle that hit him. Scruggs allegedly broke a window and began stabbing the 35-year-old with a pocketknife.
The couple attempted to intervene, but were allegedly threatened by Scruggs with the knife.
A St. Petersburg Police Department officer driving by the scene pulled over to help, and detained Scruggs before calling for assistance.
The 35-year-old man was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were described as serious, but not life-threatening.
Scruggs was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and armed burglary. He was released from Pinellas County Jail on Tuesday night after posting $65,000 bail.
In one post viewed by the Tampa Bay Times that has since been removed, Tara Jex Iglinski said she saw the incident as it was unfolding.
Iglinski said she saw a man "holding the knife and I saw the arms of the guy sticking out the window like he was pleading for help- and his arms were all cut up," with accompanying photos showing a man holding a knife and standing next to the car, with the driver showing bloody arms.
"I took the photos and noticed the knife in the guys hand, and that there was blood all over both of them," Iglinski’s post said." I don’t know what happened before I got there or what happened after I was able to get around them."
In a press release from 2013 announcing Scruggs' appointment to the US Attorney’s Office in Tampa, Scruggs was assigned to the Narcotics Section in Tampa. He previously worked in the Prescription Drug Investigation Unit of the New York County District Attorney’s Office in New York City, and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
Scruggs appeared on behalf of the federal government for hearings regarding Florida residents facing charges in relation to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
In one case regarding one man who was dubbed the "Podium Guy" after photos were taken of him walking in the Capitol with the House Speaker’s podium, Adam Christian Johnson, Scruggs requested US Magistrate Judge Christopher Tuite to place restrictions on Johnson while he was released, including a nightly curfew, drug testing, and the surrender of his passport.
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