After a highway collision, a former federal prosecutor who worked on cases involving January 6 defendants is accused of stabbing another person in an act of road rage. He is now facing charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and armed burglary.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), a Tampa couple headed south on Interstate 275 noticed a 35-year-old man slumped over the wheel of his stalled car and pulled over to help. The driver woke up, stepped on the accelerator, crashed into the couple’s car, and then, while trying to flee, crashed into a vehicle driven by Patrick Douglas Scruggs.
Scruggs stopped his car, got out to confront the offender, and stabbed him with a pocket knife after breaking the window of the offender’s automobile. Scruggs also attacked the pair that initially stopped to help the first driver, and they subsequently fled the scene.
Scruggs was detained by a passing police officer who heard the disturbance and decided to investigate.
The driver was sent to the hospital with “severe but not life-threatening” wounds.
Scruggs’ history ensured that the strange altercation would garner global attention.
From September 2012 until April 2023, he worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he helped prosecute Floridians arrested after the January 6, 2021, rally against the certification of the 2020 election results at the U.S. Capitol. He is now an attorney at the Atlanta firm Barnes & Thornburg.
Everyone is given the benefit of the doubt in the United States of America. Attorney John Nohlgren argued that Mr. Scruggs should be given the same benefit of the doubt as everyone else. He has spent practically his entire career defending the rights of Americans, and he has a spotless record.
There is much more to this incident than what is being reported, and we are aggressively working to bring to light the complete facts of what occurred,” Nohlgren said, emphasizing that his client was not the one who caused the “chaotic scenario.” We ask that people approach this open-mindedly and avoid passing quick judgment.
