Man who allegedly shot at George Zimmerman arrested
LAKE MARY, Fla. -- A man who shot at George Zimmerman during a confrontation Monday along a busy central Florida road has been arrested, CBS affiliate WKMG in Orlando reported.
Matthew Apperson was charged on Friday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and firing a missile into an occupied conveyance, Lake Mary police reported in a news release.
"After conducting numerous interviews throughout the week, detectives determined that Mr. Apperson did intentionally fire his weapon into the vehicle occupied by George Zimmerman without provocation," the statement read.
Police told WKMG that Apperson turned himself in Friday evening. He was being held at the Seminole County Jail ahead of a court appearance scheduled for Saturday morning, the station said.
Zimmerman's attorney, Don West, has said the former neighborhood watch volunteer had recently moved to another state but came back to the Orlando suburb of Lake Mary for Mother's Day.
He was driving to a doctor's appointment Monday when Apperson intentionally fired his gun into Zimmerman's truck without provocation, detectives said.
Police recovered three guns after the shooting, two from Apperson and one from Zimmerman.
Both men had their guns legally. The passenger window of Zimmerman's pickup had a bullet hole in it, and Zimmerman suffered minor injuries from flying glass and debris.
Apperson's attorney, Mark NeJame, said in an email Friday night that his client's bond was set at $35,000 and his release had been arranged.
"The case will proceed through the criminal justice system appropriately and ultimately a determination will be made as (to) what truly happened," NeJame said.
Earlier in the week, NeJame described the shooting as "a good, old-fashioned self-defense case." He said the two men's encounter on Monday was pure "happenstance."
According to WKMG, Apperson's mother and his wife were questioned by investigators at the Lake Mary Police Department on Friday.
"Obviously, this is a really tense situation for everybody, but the family is cooperating, and we're hoping that justice will be served in terms of -- that he will not be charged. That's our hope," Whitney Boan, who represents Apperson's wife Liza, told reporters.
Zimmerman and Apperson were involved in a road-rage episode last September. Apperson said Zimmerman had threatened to kill him after Apperson made a U-turn that put him in an adjacent lane, asking "Do you know who I am?"
Apperson decided not to pursue charges in that case.
Two days later, Apperson called police to report that Zimmerman's truck was parked near the disability-benefits office where he works. Zimmerman told police officers he had an appointment in the same office park, and no charges were filed.
Zimmerman was acquitted in the February 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in a case that sparked protests and a national debate about race relations. The Justice Department later decided not to bring a civil rights case against Zimmerman.
Since then, Zimmerman was charged with assault based on complaints from two girlfriends. In both cases, the girlfriends refused to cooperate and charges were dropped.
His estranged wife also accused him of smashing her iPad during an argument days after she filed divorce papers. No charges were filed because of lack of evidence.