A Ponte Vedra Beach physician charged in a road rage incident involving gunfire has hired high-profile Jacksonville defense attorney Brian Coughlin — the son of former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin — to represent him in court, The Citizen has learned.
Dr. Bruce L. Mitchell, 67, a longtime resident of the exclusive Sawgrass community and former director of Hospital Medicine at Emory University, was arrested this month after allegedly discharging a firearm while pursuing five high school athletes in a chaotic encounter along A1A.
According to arrest records, the confrontation began when five teenage boys — all student-athletes at a Jacksonville high school — were tossing cheese out of their car windows as a prank while stopped at a red light near Ponte Vedra Boulevard and Sawgrass Drive.
A black Range Rover, later identified as Mitchell’s vehicle, allegedly began tailing the teens aggressively, swerving between lanes and at one point veering off the road.
Several of the teens told deputies that Mitchell pulled out a black pistol, yelled something at them, and fired a shot into the air.
The teens called 911 as they attempted to flee, later telling investigators they feared for their lives. Mitchell allegedly followed the teens for several blocks before disengaging upon seeing police cruisers in the area.
Deputies stopped Mitchell’s SUV a short time later. According to their report, Mitchell exited the vehicle without being prompted, spurring officers to point their guns at him and order him to the ground.
Mitchell complies, and a search of the vehicle turned up a loaded Sig Sauer handgun in the glovebox, a spare magazine on the passenger seat, and two additional live rounds, one on the seat and one on the floor.
According to court papers, Mitchell initially claimed “they shot at me first,” but later invoked his right to remain silent.
Investigators say no weapons were found in the teens’ vehicle and no evidence supported his claim of an initial shot.
The former Mayo Clinic doctor was booked into St. Johns County Jail and later released on bond.
He faces felony charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and discharging a firearm from a vehicle.
Mitchell is now being represented by Brian Coughlin, a prominent criminal defense attorney with the Bedell Firm of Jacksonville.
Coughlin is the son of legendary NFL coach Tom Coughlin, who led the Jaguars from 1995 to 2002 and later won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants.
Brian Coughlin received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 2000, and a law degree from the University of Florida in 2003. He later served as prosecutor in the State Attorney’s Office in Jacksonville before joining his current firm in 2007.
He did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
Mitchell did not return a request for comment on the case against him.
Before his tenure at Emory, Mitchell spent 14 years at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. A Mayo Clinic spokesperson confirmed that Mitchell’s employment ended in 2009.
Mitchell lives in Sawgrass with his wife, a Harvard graduate and senior executive at Cox Communications.
