Records that shed new light on the stabbing death of former prosecutor Howard Frankland

How did a former federal prosecutor end up being charged with stabbing a man during a rush-hour car crash?

Court documents filed last week in Patrick Scruggs’ case reveal new details about a series of strange events that occurred on the Howard Frankland Bridge on the morning of September 26, 2023.

The paper appears to be laying the groundwork for a defense that focuses on the actions and reliability of the man who was stabbed, Blake Sharpe, and how Scruggs responded to what he believed to be an impaired driver.

Scruggs, 40, a former prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa, is charged with aggravated assault and other charges in connection with the stabbing.

His attorneys, Lee Perlman and John Nordgren, filed the document asking the state to provide additional information about Sharpe.

They claim they knew Sharpe was trying to flee the scene of an accident, was intoxicated and had multiple warrants for his arrest. They also highlighted his status as a confidential law enforcement informant and suggested he may have received preferential treatment.

Sharp, 36, was later sentenced to prison for a probation violation in a Hernando County case. He testified in a pretrial deposition while he was incarcerated at the prison last August.

He denied trying to flee the accident when he collided with Scruggs’ car.

“I never run away from the scene of an accident,” he said, according to the deposition. “It’s not in my nature. I’ve had other accidents. I’m like, okay, I’ll stay. Don’t leave or it’ll make things a hundred times worse.”

The paper summarizes the events leading up to the stabbing.

That morning, Ahmed Gahaf and his wife, Ittifaq Almontaser, were driving west along the bridge when a car came up behind their stopped car in the middle of traffic. As Gahaf drove around the car, he saw Sharpe in the driver’s seat.

He was said to be “crouched” over the steering wheel. Gahaf stopped in front of Sharpe’s car and got out to see what had happened. According to court documents, the man walked up and tapped on the driver’s side window, but Sharp did not respond. Gahaf then returned to his car to get tools to break the window.

As he was leaving, Sharp woke up and immediately accelerated his car, according to court documents. He crashed into the rear of Mr Gahaf’s car and pushed the car further along the bridge while Gahaf’s wife sat inside.

Sharp then backed up and drove forward again, swerving into the far left lane to avoid Gahaff’s car, court documents state.

It was at that moment that Scruggs drove by. Sharp’s car collided with his car. The two cars became stuck together and the momentum of the collision sent them both forward and to the right, hitting Mr Gahaf’s car again. Sharp’s car ended up becoming wedged between two other cars, according to court documents.

Gahaf called 911 and reported that a driver was impaired on the bridge.

Scruggs got out of the car. In his hand was a pocket knife. He yelled at Sharp to get out, but he didn’t move.

Scruggs pulled the door handle, but it was locked. He then used the back end of his pocket knife to break the window. Sharp still refused to get out of the car or turn off the car’s engine, according to court documents.

When Scruggs reached to unlock the door from the inside, Sharp “fired back,” court documents said. The two men grappled with each other. The documents say Sharpe “attempted to accelerate the vehicle forward as if to pass two vehicles blocking his path.”

That’s when Scruggs began stabbing Sharpe with a pocket knife.

A short time later, St. Petersburg police officers arrived and ordered Scruggs to retreat. He did as he was told.

A video taken by a passing motorist and later widely shared on social media shows Scruggs, wearing sandals, shorts and a T-shirt, thrusting a knife into Sharp’s arm, which was sticking out of the driver’s side window. was reflected.

Arriving officers’ body camera footage showed Scruggs being taken into custody. He was polite and obedient. Officers placed a tourniquet on Sharpe’s arm as he groaned in pain. Blood made a mark on the cement.

In pretrial testimony, Sharp said that morning she had an uneasy feeling that something bad was going to happen. He kissed his wife goodbye three times before leaving the house. After taking his children to school, he headed to Pinellas County for work.

Sharp said he had no recollection of the accident.

“I think I passed out or passed out or something like that,” he said. “The medical report said my blood sugar levels were out of whack, so I’ve had diabetic issues in the past, so I guess that’s what happened. And then the next thing I knew, the window was broken. Mr. Scruggs started stabbing me.”

But the defense cited medical records showing Sharp’s blood sugar levels were at normal levels when he arrived at the hospital that day. Paramedics did not give him anything to lower his blood sugar levels. The emergency room doctor who treated Sharpe similarly testified that there were no signs that he was having a diabetic attack, according to court records.

Although he did not take a drug test, Sharp denied taking drugs that day, according to court records.

Scruggs’ attorney pointed out that Sharp had two previous encounters with police in which he also claimed to have high blood sugar levels, but officers believed he was under the influence of drugs. .

Shortly before the stabbing, Sharpe said she called Carlos Cruz, an investigator with the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office. According to Mr. Sharpe’s testimony, Mr. Sharpe admitted to working with Mr. Cruz as a confidential informant.

“I helped them bust a lot of fentanyl dealers,” he testified.

He said he called Cruz because he wanted to let him know he was turning himself in to obtain a warrant.

Ms. Scruggs’ attorney asked whether Sharpe had expected Ms. Cruz to “make things happen” and save the day.

“No,” he said. “I was going to turn myself in. But I had an affair with him. So I’m, you know, going to turn myself in to him.”

Scruggs’ case is scheduled for trial in February.