Man drove off highway with family in car and tried to stab EMT who responded:: WRAL.com

A Pennsylvania man accused of stabbing a paramedic with medical scissors appeared in court Friday in Edgecombe County.

Carlos Santos-Guifarro drove off a bridge on US Highway 64 on Thursday and fell more than 25 feet onto Howard Ave. Extension in Tarboro.

Robert Tinder of Edgecombe County tells WRAL News he was one of the first on the scene. He said Santos-Guifarro’s wife and two children were in the car with him.

“Through our investigation, we determined that this was not a traffic accident. It was an intentional act,” Tinder said.

Tinder said that while receiving medical attention, Santos-Guifarro grabbed an EMT’s medical scissors and then stabbed him in the neck several times.

“He has a stab wound. It’s not deep, but if it wasn’t the blunt part of the scissors it would have gone through his neck,” he said.

Santos-Guifarro faces three charges of attempted first-degree murder for driving his car off the highway, and three more charges of assault for stabbing the paramedics.

“I’ve been doing this for 24 years, and this is one of the first times I’ve seen an EMT get stabbed,” Tinder said.

Edgecombe County EMS said violence against first responders is not common in the county. When it does happen, it is usually in unexpected situations.

Tinder said they were lucky this wasn’t worse.

“It was a single-car accident. Thank God,” he said. ‘That’s a traveled road. It did not land on any other vehicle.”

It is not clear why Santos-Guifarro was traveling through North Carolina. He now faces a $4 million bond and is due back in court on November 27.