Watch Drivers Help Fla. Trooper Attacked on Roadside
March 22, 2022
Dashboard camera footage captured a pedestrian punching a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who stopped after spotting the man walking along Interstate 4 in Tampa.
Good Samaritans pulled over and helped a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who was attacked by a man walking along a highway last week.
The incident, which happened Friday in Tampa, was captured by the trooper's dashboard camera footage, WFLA-TV reports. The trooper had stopped along Interstate 4 after spotting a 24-year-old man walking on the roadway.
While talking with the man, the trooper asked to search him before trying to put the man in the back of his cruiser in order to get him off the interstate. The video then shows the man becoming confrontational and punching the trooper in the face.
While the two struggled, several passing drivers stopped to help the officer. The man eventually was subdued, but not before punching the officer several more times.
The trooper suffered a bloody nose from the attack, and the man received a small cut on his chin.
"The FHP thanks all the Good Samaritans that stopped … to help our Trooper," the agency said in a statement.