against george zimmerman suggest this is not the first time his girlfriend feared for her safety. a state prosecutor told the court samantha shiby says zimmerman choked her during an argument a week and a half ago and that zimmerman talked about suicide. not reported to police, it caught his public defenders off guard. that was the first i heard about it, too. i was surprised myself. reporter: samantha s mother tells cnn my daughter is doing good and she s in a safe place after her alarming 911 call. he just broke my glass table. you just broke my sunglasses and you put your gun in my freaking face and told me to get the [ mute ] out. reporter: investigators say zimmerman had been living with shivy for months. the judge says he now has to stay away from her. not by person, not by phone, not by mail, fax, blog, tweet, through facebook. no contact at all. reporter: zimmerman s not even allowed to go back to his girlfriend s house to collect
the victim indicate there was a prior domestic violence incident approximately a week and a half ago that involved a choking that she does not report to the police. she had indicated they had been discussing breaking up on this day. reporter: zimmerman is suicidal, a claim his attorneys say is false. i think any time somebody is arrested for charges it brings a certain level of anxiety and stress. my impression, again, of speaking to mr. zimmerman, he didn t appear to be a danger to himself or anybody else. reporter: according to court documents, zimmerman says he is homeless and unemployed. he also says he s $2.5 million in debt and lists $144 cash in assets. he has been appointed a public defender. i definitely would not characterize my client as a loose cannon. he is presumed innocent on these matters and we re confident he ll be acquitted. reporter: now, zimmerman is expected to be back in court in january and by the way, zimmerman s wife, shellie served
speaking to mr. zimmerman, he didn t appear to be a danger to himself or anybody else. reporter: according to court documents, zimmerman says he is homeless and unemployed. he also says he s $2.5 million in debt and lists $144 cash in assets. he has been appointed a public defender. i definitely would not characterize my client as a loose cannon. he is presumed innocent on these matters and we re confident he ll be acquitted. reporter: now, zimmerman s wife, shellie served him with divorce papers monday night while sitting in a jail cell at the correctional facility behind me. the washington post is reporting that the department of justice will soon announce their decision on whether to fight civil rights charges against zimmerman in the trayvon martin case. let s get over to indra for another check of the forecast. temperatures just about 5 to 10 degrees below normal. it will stay that way through
faith, good to have you here and a lot to talk about with this. so nbc news reached out to the police chief by phone, who said i received many e-mails from sender citizens on the zimmerman thing and i felt it was important that i respond to them the best i could. i have some concerns about zimmerman. i think a lot of people do. he also tells nbc news that everywhere he pops up, the word firearm pops up. do i think that s problematic? yes. so, faith, what is your take on the police chief s candor? well, i don t think that he should be detailing giving details about the investigation in private e-mails to citizens. those details some of those details were not even in the police report and he s connoting them in the e-mail as if he s having another conversation with another law enforcement official so he s giving a lot of details in the e-mail that i don t think was appropriate to do. nbc news also asked zimmerman s legal team for a response and has been told a response is forthco
reporter: new dashcam video shows george simm e man and another man being ordered out of this truck at gunpoint monday by lake mary, florida police. get him back out there. reporter: police suspected zimmerman was armed after receive thing frantic call from his estranged wife shellie zimmerman. he s in his car and continually has his hand on the gun and keeps saying step closer. he s just threatening all of us. step closer and what? and he s going to shoot us. reporter: police say they did not find a gun. according to police, there was a confrontation at the home the zimmermans once shared, a home owned by shelley s father. he accosted my father and took my ipad out of my hand and smashed it and cut it with a pocket knife. reporter: this is dean after the alleged attack, which police say was not caught on camera. police say mrs. zimmerman was using the new smashed ipad to