Why George Zimmerman was arrested in Florida 鈥 again
George Zimmerman, the Florida man known for his involvement in the Trayvon Martin case, was arrested Friday night for throwing a wine bottle at his girlfriend.
George Zimmerman, the Florida man known for his involvement in the Trayvon Martin case, was arrested Friday night for throwing a wine bottle at his girlfriend.
George Zimmerman is now facing another brush with the law. The Florida man, who was acquitted in 2013 over the shooting death of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, was arrested Friday on suspicion of domestic violence and aggravated assault with a weapon.
Police in Lake Mary, Fla. detained the 31-year-old around 10 p.m. Friday and booked him at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility, according to Seminole County documents.
During a court appearance Saturday morning, Zimmerman's bond was set at $5,000 and he was ordered to avoid contact with the woman who was not identified, the Associated Press reports.聽
Judge John Galluzzo gave few details of the incident, but said a wine bottle was involved and that the alleged assault happened at Zimmerman's home. Prosecutors questioned whether substance abuse treatment was needed, but the judge said that didn't seem to be a factor.
After the brief hearing, Zimmerman's attorney, Don West, told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel聽Saturday that his client was arrested after allegedly throwing a wine bottle at his girlfriend several days ago.聽Zimmerman is scheduled to appear back in court on Feb. 17.
Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Fla., first made headlines in 2012 after a confrontation with 17-year-old Martin led to Zimmerman fatally shooting the teenager. He was charged with second-degree murder but was found not guilty in an emotionally-charged trial that brought to the fore discussions of race relations in America.
Zimmerman has since had several brushes with the law. Two weeks after his acquittal, he was pulled over for speeding in northern Texas. In September 2013, his estranged wife, Shellie, called 911 to report that Zimmerman had punched her father and was threatening them with a gun.
鈥淚鈥檓 really, really afraid,鈥 she can be heard saying in the 911 tape.
Mrs. Zimmerman decided not to press charges.
About two months later, Zimmerman鈥檚 girlfriend Samantha Scheibe told police that he had pointed a gun at her after she told him to move out. Zimmerman was arrested on charges of domestic violence and released on $9,000 bail. Scheibe later said her story had been misinterpreted and dropped the charges.
Before his latest arrest, Zimmerman allegedly聽threatened to kill another motorist in a road rage incident in Lake Mary in September 2014. According to local station WKMG-TV, a truck driver called police after a man he recognized as Zimmerman pulled up next to him, yelling, 鈥淲hy are you pointing a finger at me?鈥
The truck driver, who declined to press charges, said Zimmerman had been carrying a gun and said, 鈥淒o you know who I am? I鈥檒l (expletive) kill you.鈥
During the Trayvon Martin trial Zimmerman's run-ins with the law were not raised.聽
As 海角大神 reported, Zimmerman had had a previous restraining order against him from a previous girlfriend, and he had once been arrested for allegedly attacking a police officer. But these encounters, which did not end in convictions, were not in evidence in the Martin case.