What did Patrick Douglas Scruggs do? Charges explored as federal prosecutor arrested for stabbing driver in road rage incident

Former federal prosecutor 38-year-old Patrick Douglas Scruggs was arrested and taken into custody on Tuesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He faces multiple charges including aggravated assault. The former prosecutor was arrested for allegedly stabbing a motorist on Tuesday on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Florida. A Florida Highway Patrol representative confirmed the information.

According to multiple reports, Patrick Douglas Scruggs used to work for the Justice Department but doesn't work there any longer. Additional details about Scruggs have yet to be revealed.

Scruggs is currently booked into the Pinellas County Jail and is being held on a $65,000 bond. His attorney has stated that the 38-year-old did not have any past criminal record.

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Former federal prosecutor Patrick Douglas Scruggs, allegedly stabbed a motorist in a road rage incident

A Highway Patrol representative shed light on the chain of events that transpired on Tuesday when Patrick Scruggs stabbed a motorist. The incident reportedly began after a driver, a 35-year-old man from Tampa, was seen slumped over in his car shortly before 9:30 am local time. His car was in the southbound lane of the Howard Frankland Bridge.

Another driver, who noticed the Tampa man, stopped his car to check on the latter. The second driver, identified as 40-year-old Ahmed Gahaf was driving on the highway with his wife when he stopped to check on the first driver.

According to PEOPLE, the Highway Patrol noted that it was at this moment that the driver from Tampa awoke and drove forward crashing into Gahaf's car. However, following that, he tried to reverse his car and in the process, bumped into Patrick's car.

PEOPLE stated that according to the Highway Patrol's statement, Scruggs was the third driver on the scene. When the first driver crashed into his car, Scruggs got out of his car, broke the former's window, and began stabbing him with a pocket knife.

When this happened, Gahaf and his wife tried to intervene and stop Scruggs only to have him threaten to stab them too. Fearing for their safety, the couple ran away.

Shortly after, a St. Petersburg police officer arrived and took Patrick Douglas Scruggs into custody. Upon being asked about the incident, Ahmed Gahaf said,

"It surprised me why he did this. He said: 'You with him? You two, you want to kill me?' That's when he came at me with the knife."

Gahaf added that he wanted to help the first driver and the other people as it could have ended up in a "big accident.:

"It's four lanes, and everyone is speeding 80 mph. There could have been a big accident," Gahaf noted.

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Scruggs has pleaded not guilty to all the charges

The incident hampered the traffic in the area and it was shut down for about three hours after the stabbing. After his arrest, Patrick Douglas Scruggs was charged with armed burglary, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Police are unable to find out why the first driver was in that condition in the first place.

Patrick Douglas Scruggs' defense attorney 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."

Scruggs' defense attorney said that his client is being portrayed as a person who "jumps out [of his car] and starts stabbing a person." However, he noted that Scruggs wasn't this person and that it wasn't in his personality to do so.

The defense lawyer claimed that it was unlikely for his client to behave that way, and also highlighted that he had no prior criminal record.