Deputy expected to recover after being stabbed by mental health patient
Bodycam video: Deputy catches suspect after being stabbed
The stabbing and subsequent struggle was caught on HCSO bodycam video.
LITHIA, Fla. - A Hillsborough County deputy is recovering after being stabbed in the neck while trying to take a man into custody for a mental health evaluation Sunday afternoon.
According to the sheriff’s office, Deputy Charles Williams was among those called to a Fishhawk Ranch neighborhood to help Gracepoint mental health counselors with an involuntary evaluation of a 21-year-old man.
At the time, deputies said, Nicholas Furgason was cooperating with the evaluation. But when he learned he was being taken into custody under the state’s Baker Act, he ran from the home into some nearby woods.
Deputy Williams caught up with Furgason on a trail and calmed him down. But as Williams was taking him into custody, bodycam video shows Furgason reached around his shoulder and stabbed the deputy in the neck with a knife.
Williams was able to chase Furgason for another 100 yards, holstering his sidearm in favor of his Taser, which he used on Furgason. Another deputy then helped Williams arrest him.
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Photo via HCSO
The deputy was taken to the hospital and released the next morning. Sheriff Chad Chronister said Williams is expected to make a full recovery.
“This is a prime example of the dangers deputies face while trying to serve and protect our community every day," the sheriff said. "Deputy Williams used an incredible amount of restraint by deploying less-lethal force on an individual who attempted to take his life.”
Furgason, meanwhile, was also taken to the hospital for evaluation, then booked into jail once he was cleared. He faces multiple charges, including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer.