The suspect in a strange road rage incident on a Florida bridge, which snarled traffic on the span connecting Tampa and St. Petersburg, was identified Thursday as a former federal prosecutor.
Patrick Douglas Scruggs, whose 39th birthday was Thursday, was arrested and accused of armed burglary, aggravated assault and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The alleged meltdown happened on the Howard Frankland Bridge on Tuesday morning, a Florida Highway Patrol representative said.
Scruggs was an assistant U.S. attorney in the criminal division in Tampa from Sept. 9, 2012, to April 21 this year, a U.S. attorney's office spokesperson said.
Scruggs no longer works for the Justice Department, and the representative declined to reveal any additional details about him.
The incident started when a 35-year-old Tampa man called "Driver 1" was found slumped over in his car in a southbound lane of the Howard Frankland Bridge a little before 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, the Highway Patrol said.
A second car, driven by Ahmed Gahaf, 40, of Tampa, stopped in front of Driver 1 to see whether he was OK. That's when Driver 1 "awoke and drove forward, colliding with Driver 2's vehicle," the Highway Patrol said.
"Driver 1 reversed and attempted to drive around Driver 2's (Gahaf's) vehicle" and then "collided with Driver 3's vehicle which was passing the incident," it said.
Driver 3 was Scruggs, who "stopped, exited his vehicle, approached Driver 1, broke out a side window and began to stab Driver 1 multiple times with a pocket knife," the Highway Patrol said.
When Gahaf and his wife tried to intervene, Scruggs allegedly "diverted his attention" to them and tried to stab them, officials said.
The pair "fled before being harmed," and a passing St. Petersburg police officer came upon the brouhaha and arrested Scruggs, the Highway Patrol said.
"It surprised me why he did this," Gahaf said. "He said: 'You with him? You two, you want to kill me?' That's when he came at me with the knife."
The incident closed parts of the bridge for nearly three hours, authorities said.
Gahaf said he stopped for two reasons — to see whether he could help Driver 1 and to warn oncoming cars to go around the vehicle.
"I wanted to help the guy and help the other people, too. It could have been a big accident," Gahaf said in an interview Thursday. "It's four lanes, and everyone is speeding 80 mph. There could have been a big accident."
Gahaf, who owns a restaurant, said that despite the double danger he faced in the initial stop and the alleged attempt to stab him, he wouldn't hesitate to stop in the middle of the road again.
"I'm going to do this every time, no question," he said. "We have to help people when we see something, especially in the middle of the highway. Someone stuck in the middle of the road, he needs our help, no question."
Scruggs was booked and released on a $65,000 bond, Pinellas County Jail records showed.
"He has no prior criminal history. This is a totally isolated incident," his attorney John Nohlgren said.
"He's got tons of law enforcement and prosecutors who are reaching out and saying, 'This is not the Patrick Scruggs we know; something must have happened.' That's been the reaction so far. The portrayal that he's some guy who jumps out and starts stabbing a person is either not what happened but is also not [who] my client [is], not his personality."
It still wasn't clear Thursday why Driver 1 was initially unresponsive, setting off Tuesday's strange chain of events, a Highway Patrol representative said.
The man's hands appeared to be shaking when he regained consciousness, Gahaf said.
