The Tampa man accused of stabbing another motorist after a crash on the Howard Frankland Bridge on Tuesday is a former assistant U.S. attorney who spent about a decade at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa.

Patrick Douglas Scruggs, 38, worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office from 2013 until 2023, according to his LinkedIn page. In May, he joined Barnes and Thornburg, an Atlanta-based private law firm, as an “of counsel” attorney, the page says. The page describes Scruggs as “a seasoned litigator and investigator with experience in various practice areas of criminal law....”

Now Scruggs faces his own legal trouble stemming from a bizarre chain of events that unfolded on the Howard Frankland as rush hour was winding down on Tuesday.

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Scruggs pulled over, got out and walked up to the driver of the vehicle that hit his car. According to the Highway Patrol, Scruggs broke a window and started stabbing the 35-year-old man with a pocketknife.