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Man Gets 20 Years in Prison for Shooting at George Zimmerman's Car

Matthew Apperson claimed he was acting in self-defense when he pulled a gun on the notorious former neighborhood watchman during a road rage incident last year.
George Zimmerman. Photo via Seminole County Sheriff's Office

The guy involved in a road rage incident with George Zimmerman last May has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempted second-degree murder and a concurrent 15-year sentence for aggravated assault, CNN reports.

At trial in September, Matthew Apperson maintained he shot at the former neighborhood watchman's car in self-defense after Zimmerman pulled up beside him and threatened to kill him. Zimmerman testified that Apperson had seen him driving and pursued him, honking his horn and flashing his lights, before pulling a gun and shooting at the car. Zimmerman wasn't shot, but escaped the incident with a few cuts from the shattered window.

"The crux here is Mr. Apperson's blatant disregard for my life, any life… anybody driving up and down Lake Mary Boulevard," Zimmerman told the judge Monday, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The road rage incident with Apperson is just one of many heated run-ins Zimmerman has had since he was acquitted for the fatal 2012 shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Perhaps most recently, Zimmerman claims he was decked in the face by some restaurant patrons back in August. Witnesses said the punches were thrown after Zimmerman bragged about killing Martin.

Read: This Video of a Road Rage Brawl Will Crush Your Lingering Hope for Humanity