Crime & Justice

Ex-Federal Prosecutor Accused of Bizarre Road-Rage Stabbing

TABLES TURNED

He now faces charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and armed burglary

Patrick Scruggs, wearing an orange jumpsuit, stares forward in a mugshot.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office

A former federal prosecutor in Florida was arrested Tuesday after cops say an officer witnessed him stabbing a man in an alleged road-rage bout on the side of Interstate 275, the Tampa Bay Times reported Wednesday, citing the Florida Highway Patrol. Patrick Scruggs, 38, was booked on charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and armed burglary. Cops say he began stabbing a driver after the unnamed man crashed his car into Scruggs’ vehicle on the Howard Frankland Bridge, which connects Tampa and St. Petersburg. Scruggs allegedly broke a window and was stabbing the driver with a pocket knife. Cops say a couple—whose car was also crashed into—tried to break up the fight, but were repelled when Scruggs tried to stab them, too. Police said an officer from St. Petersburg witnessed the chaos and detained Scruggs, who reportedly was a prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa from 2013 to earlier this year.

Read it at Tampa Bay Times