Zimmerman’s girlfriend changes story: ‘I want to be with George’
The twists and turns in the Zimmerman saga continue.
George Zimmerman’s girlfriend -- who said in a 911 call last month that he pointed a gun “at [her] freaking face,” resulting in Zimmerman’s arrest -- now says the whole incident was overblown and she doesn’t want to see him prosecuted.
“George never pointed a gun at or toward my face in a threatening manner,” said Samantha Scheibe, 27, in an affidavit signed Friday and filed with a Seminole County, Fla., court. She blamed police and “the heat of the moment” for the charges that ensued, adding, “I am not afraid of George in any manner and I want to be with him.”
Scheibe’s new claim dramatically reinterprets an incident that returned Zimmerman to national headlines and became his most serious brush with the law since his acquittal of murder over the summer for the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman, 30, was arrested Nov. 18 on charges of aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief for the incident with Scheibe in her Apopka, Fla., home, which they shared.
Scheibe had called Seminole County authorities and said Zimmerman started an argument when she told him to leave, according to the arrest report from the sheriff’s office.
Zimmerman began packing his belongings, including a shotgun and an assault rifle, according to media reports. She said she began putting his things in the living room and outside the house, and he became upset -- echoing a September incident in which Zimmerman and his estranged wife, Shellie, got into an argument that also resulted in police being called to their home.
But unlike the incident with Zimmerman’s wife, who also told officials he was armed during their argument, Zimmerman was arrested and charged after police arrived at Scheibe’s home.
Zimmerman posted $9,000 bond and was released on condition that he not contact Scheibe -- a stipulation she now wants thrown out.
“I want to be with George,” Scheibe wrote in the affidavit. “I contacted George’s attorney to ask if there is any way that the stay-away order can be lifted so that we can talk and be together.”
Scheibe said that she was “overwhelmed and upset” during the incident and that she “may have misspoken about certain facts in my statement to the police.” She added that she was “intimidated” while being questioned by police, who didn’t give her anything to eat or drink.
Scheibe wrote that she was not being pressured by Zimmerman to make the request.
Zimmerman’s attorney, Jayne Weintraub of Miami, formally requested that the no-contact order be lifted in an ensuing motion filed with the court.
Weintraub told the Orlando Sentinel she hopes prosecutors “will decline prosecution on these charges, period, and close the case.”
Seminole County prosecutor Chris White told the Sentinel his office was reviewing Scheibe’s new statement and would decide later this week whether to pursue or drop the case.
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