Published on Saturday, September 10, 2005
in the Gainesville Sun

911 call helps lead FHP to wanted man on I-75

A 911 call from a Gainesville family helped lead a Florida Highway Patrol trooper to an injured man, discovered on the side of Interstate 75 early Friday.

Relatives of Tyrone Suggs, 32, told officers Suggs called, told them he had been stabbed and was trying to get back to Gainesville from Tallahassee, FHP spokesman Lt. Mike Burroughs said. Worried when he refused to stop and get treatment, the family began calling for help.

Trooper John Gourley found Suggs and his car on the side of I-75 in Columbia County, about six miles south of Lake City. The car was in a ditch and Suggs was lying on the ground next to the open passenger door. A rag was around his right arm, which was bleeding badly.

"He had lost a lot of blood. He was already starting to go into shock when we found him," Burroughs said.

Cpl. Kin Weaver and Cpl. Phil Sumner began investigating the case, Burroughs said, and learned Suggs was wanted in Tallahassee for trying to break into his girlfriend's home. He injured his arm during the break-in, not because he was stabbed, officers said.

Suggs, who was taken to Shands at the University of Florida, is facing charges in Tallahassee, Burroughs said. Suggs has a Gainesville address but had been living in Jacksonville, his relatives told troopers.