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Zimmerman pulled over in Texas for traffic violation, given warning

Posted at 5:09 PM, Jul 31, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-31 17:09:31-04
By Joe Sutton and Vivian Kuo
 
(CNN) — George Zimmerman — who was acquitted earlier this month on murder charges tied to Trayvon Martin’s death — was stopped this weekend for a traffic violation in northern Texas, according to a report from the Forney, Texas, police department.
 
The incident happened shortly after noon Sunday, when an officer pulled over Zimmerman’s 2008 gray Honda for what was described only as a traffic stop.
 
He was given a verbal warning, police said.
 
A spokesman for Zimmerman’s legal defense team said he had not confirmed directly with Zimmerman that he’d been pulled over in Texas but, after looking at the dashcam photo, he believes “it’s probably George.”
 
Zimmerman last communicated with his defense team last Friday, when he was still in Florida, said the spokesman, Shawn Vincent.
 
Phone calls by CNN on Wednesday to the Forney mayor’s office, police department and city manager were not immediately returned.
 
A Florida jury found Zimmerman not guilty of second degree murder on July 13 for fatally shooting the 17-year-old Martin in a Sanford, Florida, neighborhood. The case stirred fervent emotions on both sides — from the 29-year-old’s supporters who argued that he had a right to protect himself, to others who argued he profiled the black teenager, then willfully ignored a police dispatcher’s advice by pursuing him.
 
The passions contributed to an “enormous amount of death threats” against Zimmerman and his family, his parents told ABC News earlier this month.
 
Zimmerman has remained largely out of the public spotlight since his acquittal.
 
Yet he was mentioned in news stories for helping, with another man, a family of four get out of an overturned vehicle in Sanford, said Seminole County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Heather Smith.
 
Zimmerman did not witness the July 17 crash, and he left after making contact with the deputy, Smith said. No injuries were reported.