Video: Man punches state trooper in face on side of highway — and Good Samaritans pull over to help subdue attacker

 Dashcam video caught an unsettling scene, as a man who had been walking along the shoulder of Interstate 4 punched a Florida Highway Patrol officer in the face, WTSP-TV reported.

What are the details?

The state trooper was called just before 10 a.m. Friday about a man who was wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt and carrying a duffle bag walking on the left shoulder of the interstate just west of exit 5 in Tampa, the station said.

The trooper approached the man — identified as Alexander Hernandez Delgado — and asked him why he walking along the interstate, WTSP said.

Dash cam shows drivers help Florida trooper punched by suspect on I-4youtu.be

Delgado told the trooper he's an artist, and his mother had just kicked him out of the house, the station said, citing the FHP report. After running his name through a database, the trooper reportedly tried to search Delgado and put him in the back of his cruiser, WTSP said.

"The subject became argumentative and stated that I am bothering him and that he would like to be left alone," the trooper noted in the arrest report, according to the station. "I state to him that I'm just trying to assist him off the interstate and attempted to guide the subject toward the back seat of my patrol vehicle."

Dashcam video then captured the moment Delgado punched the officer in the face.

"The subject attempted to run north toward the center median guardrail, and I attempted to place the subject in custody, and the subject proceeds to resist with violence throwing several punches and striking me again," the trooper noted in the report, according to WTSP.

Dashcam video showed the officer tackling Delgado near the median, but authorities said Delgado kept fighting, the station noted.

Good Samaritans step up

But soon a truck driver pulled over, ran toward the scuffle, and helped subdue Delgado so the trooper could handcuff him.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Other drivers also pulled over and ran to the scene to help the trooper.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

What happened to the trooper and the suspect?

Paramedics checked out the trooper and Delgado, WTSP said. The trooper had a bloody nose but was otherwise OK, the station said, adding that Delgado had a minor cut on his chin.

Delgado was arrested and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence, WTSP reported.

'The cops can't do it all themselves'

Randy Sutton — founder of Wounded Blue, an organization that helps law enforcement officers who are injured in the line of duty — had high praise for the motorists who stopped to help the trooper.

“The cops can’t do it all themselves,” Sutton told WFLA-TV, adding that “every officer, doesn’t matter what community they serve, is in danger, every single day that they’re out on the streets."

The trooper went right back to work Friday following the incident, the station said, adding that the Good Samaritan motorists also went about their day's business.