The Gerstle Family. (Image via TheSmokingGun.com)
News broke on Monday of George Zimmerman‘s “heroic” rescue of a family of four on a Florida highway intersection, about a mile away from where he shot Trayvon Martin. The Gerstle family, consisting of Mark, 52, his wife Dana, 41, and their two children, Sadie and Matthew, were set to give a press conference this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. about the events of last Friday’s car accident and subsequent rescue.
Family cops say George #Zimmerman helped rescue from overturned car last week to hold press conference @ 1:30 today. Details later on @wesh.
— bob kealing (@bobkealing) July 24, 2013
About an hour and a half before the event was to take place, the family decided to cancel, saying that they “don’t want to be associated with George”:
Confirmed: Family helped by George #Zimmerman cancels news conference. O'Mara spokesman: "They don't want to be associated with George."
— bob kealing (@bobkealing) July 24, 2013
The reports Monday outlined the event, which happened the Thursday before. At at 5:45 p.m. in the evening, the family’s SUV rolled off the highway at the intersection I-4 and route 417. Two men, said to be Zimmerman and another man who may be his bodyguard, pulled the trapped victims out of the crashed vehicle. Police arrived soon after the rescue. There are no reports of injury. Zimmerman was not a witness to the crash and left after police arrived on the scene.
Above map shows the intersection of the accident (A) in relation to the location of the Trayvon Martin shooting (B).
This was the first known public sighting of Zimmerman since the verdict was read at his trial on July 13. The jury’s “not guilty” ruling has sparked ongoing protests that have continued for over a week after the event.