ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The man accused of stabbing a person who crashed into his car Tuesday morning on the Howard Frankland Bridge previously worked for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.
Patrick Scruggs worked as an assistant attorney for the Middle District of Florida's United States Attorney's Office in Tampa, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was employed there from September 2012 through April 2023 before transitioning in May to a law firm based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Scruggs' page on the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg no longer appears online. 10 Tampa Bay has reached out to the firm for comment but has not heard back.
William Daniels, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida confirmed Scruggs' decade-long employment with the government and stated Scruggs is "no longer employed by the United States Department of Justice."
Tuesday's crash and subsequent stabbing attack ended up causing major delays for several hours on the Howard Frankland Bridge over Tampa Bay heading toward St. Petersburg.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said they were called just before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to the bridge regarding a multi-car crash in the southbound lanes of Interstate 275.
RELATED: Man arrested after stabbing driver who hit his car on Howard Frankland Bridge, troopers say
During their investigation, troopers said they learned a 35-year-old man had stopped in the travel lanes and was slumped over for an "unknown reason" inside his car. Then, a 40-year-old man driving along the bridge saw the man slumped over and looking unwell, so he and his wife stopped their car in front of him to see if he was okay, FHP said.
The 40-year-old couldn't get inside the 35-year-old's car, so he went back to his car in order to find something to break the window and help him. Before he could do that, however, troopers said the 35-year-old man came to and started driving forward.
But rather than getting back on the road and on his way, troopers said the 35-year-old first hit the couple's car, then reversed and tried to go around, only to crash into Scruggs' car as he drove past the incident.
Troopers say Scruggs stopped his car, got out, went up to the 35-year-old's car, broke the window and began stabbing him multiple times with a pocket knife.
Photos taken by Tara Iglinski show a man who appears to have blood on his arm and a possible knife in hand standing next to the driver's side of a car. The person's hands sticking out of the car's window look bloodied.
“I just saw that he was standing there strangely, and then I saw the arms of the other person, and I was trying to figure out why they were bleeding so much and all of that,” Iglinsjky said. “So, it was a little bit crazy.”
10 Tampa Bay has blurred the images because of their graphic nature.
Howard Frankland Bridge stabbing
Iglinski says she was relieved there was a police officer a few cars behind her who was able to respond quickly.
“It just seems so strange that he would be reacting that way, and I just can’t help but wonder if it was just a moment of temporary. I hope everyone is OK,” she said.
The couple, still at the crash, rushed in to help the 35-year-old, but Scruggs reportedly tried to stab them, too, according to FHP. The couple was able to get away without being harmed.
An officer with the St. Petersburg Police Department who was passing by the crash stopped their patrol car to arrest Scruggs and provide aid to the 35-year-old man.
The 35-year-old was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Scruggs was charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and burglary of an occupied conveyance. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail.
Scruggs was booked into the Pinellas County jail on a $10,000 bond which he paid and was released. He had no comment when he returned to his home in Tampa's Seminole Heights neighborhood Wednesday.