Moments before a domestic dispute broke out, George Zimmerman began taking photos of his estranged wife as she removed belongings from the house they shared, according to a police report released Wednesday.
Shellie Zimmerman, who filed divorce papers last week, was with her father and a friend at the house owned by her parents when her husband arrived with a camera Monday. George Zimmerman recorded the items she removed from the house and the belongings she had placed in her father’s truck, the report said.
Zimmerman said his wife was “taking property that was not agreed upon and he began taking pictures and recording the items,” the report said.
Shellie Zimmerman then took her iPad and started recording her husband taking photos of her, authorities said. George Zimmerman went in the house and locked the front door.
What happened next is in dispute.
Shellie Zimmerman told investigators she heard her father screaming from the garage. Her father, David Dean, told her that George Zimmerman had hit him in the face, the report said. She said her husband then smashed her iPad.
During a 911 call, she also told police that her estranged husband was threatening her and her father with a gun. Later, however, she said she had seen no gun. Police said they found no gun, but that Shellie Zimmerman’s father “did have a swollen red mark on the bridge of his nose.”
George Zimmerman told investigators that his wife had told him she was done picking up her belongings. He said he locked the front door and went to the garage to close it when Dean confronted him, according to the report.
Dean threw down his glasses and charged his son-in-law, according to George Zimmerman. Shellie Zimmerman at some point hit her husband with her iPad, George Zimmerman told investigators.
Police officers asked George Zimmerman to remove his shirt so they could see if there were marks on his back. “There were no signs of trauma, redness or marks of any kind in the area where he said he was struck,” the report said.
As many as seven people were at the house — friends of the Zimmermans — and they all have been questioned by investigators, Lake Mary police spokesman Zach Hudson said. The friends said they didn’t see what happened, and footage from the house’s surveillance cameras was inconclusive, Hudson added.
Both sides are refusing to press charges, but Florida law allows police officers to arrest someone for domestic violence without the consent of the victim.
Investigators are hoping video from the iPad will allow them to determine if charges should be filed.
Hudson told a news conference Wednesday that law enforcement analysts are having difficulty extracting the video because the iPad is in “bad shape.”
He said because investigators don’thave the necessary tools, it could be several weeks or months before the video can be analyzed — and even then they aren’t making any promises. The iPad’s chip also suffered some damage, Hudson said.
Without an examination of the video, he said he doesn’t expect there to be imminent charges against either person.
Lake Mary is about seven miles southwest of Sanford, where George Zimmerman, 29, fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin during a fight last year. Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, was acquitted in July of all charges in the shooting.
On Tuesday, police released a dash cam video showing George Zimmerman being handcuffed after the dispute. In the video, officers ordered Zimmerman to put his hands up and drop to his knees. One officer approaches with his gun drawn while another handcuffs Zimmerman.
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