SUMTER COUNTY, FLORIDA: Florida man Robert Moore, 75, was arrested on July 27 with the charge of aggravated manslaughter of Dean Zook, 87. The police said that the squabble that led to the deadly assault was purportedly started after a crash in the parking lot.
The police later tracked down the suspected assailant by matching the surveillance footage and an old photograph of him after scoring a hole-in-one, per ABC News. He was later taken into custody.
What did the Florida man do on June 28?
On June 28, when Zook was at the Glenview Country Club, his car bumped into a black car in the parking lot. As per the court documents, the suspect, came out asking Zook about the matter. The victim then allegedly accepted that his car bumped into the black vehicle and asked for the insurance details. It is reported in the court documents that Moore later started an aggravated assault on Zook. As per the court documents, the suspect allegedly punched Zook multiple times.
Per ABC, who obtained the court documents, "The victim attempted to put his hands up to protect himself, but was unable to protect himself from the continuing punches.” Villages-News reported that Zook suffered a “massive brain bleed” after he was punched in the jaw. Moore later realized it was not his black 2022 Lexus RX350, that Zook hit. The Florida man left the spot soon after.
When police received a call from 911, they soon arrived at the parking lot to find Zook and his wife. Zook, who was suffering from brain bleeding, was soon taken to the UF Health-Shands Medical Center in Gainesville, by helicopter. He was “unresponsive” at the time. Zook was transferred to hospice care on July 15 where he died on July 16, “due to the trauma he sustained from being punched.” However, during this time, the identity of the suspect remained unknown.
How did the police identify the suspect?
According to the police, the investigators interviewed many witnesses, looked at credit card records, and reviewed surveillance footage, per ABC. The news outlet further reported that in the court documents, police alleged that they were able to match the credit card purchase record of the club on that fateful day with that of Moore.
Per Villages-News, the sheriff’s office posted surveillance images of the suspected assailant on social media the next day. After the image was released an anonymous person provided a tip that the suspect was seen at the Havana Country Club wearing similar clothing. As per the arrest report the tipster provided a photo of the suspect from the Havana Country Club where he was “sitting at a table with several unknown females.” saying that the suspected assailant’s name is “Bob”, the anonymous source sent the photo to the sheriff’s office.
After detectives made Google searches, they allegedly came across a Villages-News article from November 8 where there was a photograph of Moore. In the photo, Moore was seen smiling after scoring a hole-in-one at Tarpon Boil Executive Golf Course.
In the court report, the detectives wrote, “Moore appeared to be wearing the same shoes, shorts and sunglasses as seen in the video surveillance from Glenview Country Club.” They also noted that Moore lives in the Village of Polo Ridge, “which is in close proximity to the Glenview Country Club.” The detectives later checked Moore’s driver’s license photo which also matched with the other photos.
When the police took him into custody, Moore said that while Zook looked “older and appeared to be frail,” he “did not think he was 87 years old.” Police later took him into custody. According to the court documents, Moore allegedly claimed that he was defending himself against Zook. Moore is 6 feet, 2 inches tall, and weighs approximately 210 pounds. Zook, on the other hand, was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and weighed around 160 pounds, according to the court documents.
Moore was later released on a $30,000 bond.
