TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A former federal prosecutor appeared in court Friday facing charges related to a 2023 stabbing incident on the Howard Frankland Bridge. The event occurred amid a traffic altercation.
Patrick Scruggs, the prosecutor involved, is asserting self-defense, stating he acted out of fear for his own life and concern for the safety of surrounding motorists, which led him to stab the other driver.
Scruggs is asking for the charges against him to be thrown out as part of a stand your ground defense.
Footage from a cellphone at the scene captures Scruggs stabbing the driver multiple times with force. The video continues to show him stepping away and then returning to stab the driver once more.
Ahmad Gahan was one of the first drivers on the scene and says he stopped because a car was stopped in a traffic lane in the middle of the bridge.
Gahan says he saw a driver passed out in the car and pounded on the window to wake him up.
“I talk to him, I said open the window, I help you,” said Gahan.
He says the passed-out driver then woke up and tried to drive off, hitting Scruggs’ car.
Gahan says Scruggs then became enraged and used the end of a knife to break out the driver’s window.
Gahan says he tried to get Scruggs to stop, and that’s when the former prosecutor came at him.
“He stopped him, and he almost stabbed me too,” said Gahan.
Amanda Post was in her car and watched it all unfold in front of her. “I was afraid if he saw me take a video of it, he could break down my window and come after me,” said Post.
Blake Sharp is the driver who was stabbed by Scruggs. He says he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs but had some type of medical episode that caused him to pass out.
Sharp has a long criminal history but angrily confronted Scruggs’ attorney from the stand, saying, “Just because I’m a felon, does not give your client the right to stab me.”
Sharp says his first memory of that day is being stabbed by Scruggs. “All I could think of was trying to call my wife and tell her I wouldn’t be coming home because some psychopath was stabbing me,” said Sharp.
Late in the day, Scruggs took the stand and told the court he was in fear for his life.
The judge told the state and defense attorneys he would issue a ruling on the stand your ground aspect of the case after he considered all of the evidence presented.
