TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Several drivers came to the rescue of a Florida Highway Patrol officer who was punched in the face Friday by a 24-year-old man.
Dash camera video showed the dramatic encounter between the trooper and 24-year-old Alexander Hernandez Delgado, who was walking along I-4 just west of exit 5 when he was stopped.
Delgado told the trooper he was an artist and was recently kicked out of his mother’s house, according to an arrest report.
When the trooper asked if he could search Delgado, he agreed. Shortly after, the trooper tried to get Delgado in the back of his patrol car. That’s when the 24-year-old became “argumentative” and told the trooper to leave him alone.
In a release, the trooper wrote he was “trying to assist [Delgado] off the interstate.”
The video shows Delgado pull away and throw a punch at the trooper’s face.
FHP said Delgado tried to run, but the trooper quickly caught up. The 24-year-old threw several more punches striking the trooper, the release added.
By the time the scuffle broke out, several civilians stopped to assist the trooper.
Authorities said Delgado suffered a minor cut on his chin while the trooper suffered a bloody nose as a result of this incident.
In a news release, FHP thanked “all the Good Samaritans that stopped today on I-4 in Tampa to help our Trooper.”
