Several bystanders have pulled over to help a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper who was attacked by a suspect on an interstate in Tampa on Friday. The Florida Highway Patrol is expressing gratitude towards the group of good Samaritans for their help.
Dashcam video captured the moment the trooper was informing the suspect, identified as Alexander Hernandez Delgado, 24, that he can’t walk on the interstate. Delgado reportedly told the trooper the reason he was walking around was that he got kicked out of the house by his mother.
In an arrest report, the trooper wrote:
“I then searched the subject and attempted to place him in the back of my patrol car. The subject became argumentative and stated that I am bothering him and that he would like to be left alone,” the trooper wrote in the report”The subject then pulled away and then threw a punch with his left hand that [struck] me in the face.”
The video shows Delgado punching the trooper in the face before the two go off-camera as they began brawling. The trooper wrote the suspect punched him several more times before the Good Samaritans came to his aid. With the help of the bystanders, the trooper was able to subdue Delgado.
As a result of the incident, the trooper sustained a bloody nose. Delgado was arrested and charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and violently resisting an officer.
The FHP thanks all the Good Samaritans that stopped on I-4, in both directions, on Friday morning, March 18th in Tampa to help our Trooper,” a spokesman for the FHP said in a statement.
