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Florida golfer’s hole-in-one lands him under arrest for parking lot assault

Robert Moore is currently out of jail on a $30,000 bond after arrest in Florida

Abe Asher
Tuesday 08 August 2023 20:54 EDT
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A Florida man may be regretting the best golf shot of his life.

Robert Moore, a 75-year-old resident of The Villages in Florida, was arrested for aggravated manslaughter - and the photo taken of Mr Moore after he shot a hole-in-one at the Tarpon Boil Executive Golf Course is apparently part of the reason why.

Authorities say that on 28 June, an 87-year-old man named Dean Zook was reportedly driving to the Glenview Country Club with his wife for a dinner out when he bumped into a Lexus parked in the club’s parking lot.

Robert Moore
Robert Moore (Sumter County Sheriff’s Office)

Mr Moore allegedly took offence and approached Mr Zook, eventually punching him in the face multiple times, court documents and reporting by multiple outlets said. Mr Zook was transported to the hospital with brain injuries and died on 16 July.

Mr Moore’s car was not reportedly the car that Mr Zook tapped in the parking lot and he is accused of leaving the scene of the incident before police could make an arrest.

In the subsequent days, detectives began searching for Mr Zook’s assailant and court documents state that an anonymous tipster provided a picture of Mr Moore allegedly wearing the same clothes that the attacker was wearing in surveillance footage.

In addition, investigators were able to match credit card purchases made on the day of the assault to Mr Moore.

And they eventually found a photo of Mr Moore allegedly wearing those same clothes that was printed after his hole-in-one at the Tarpon Boil Executive Golf Course on 8 November.

When officers arrived at Mr Moore’s residence to arrest him he allegedly claimed that Mr Zook had attacked him first and that he only fought back in self-defence.

Following his arrest Mr Moore was freed on a $30,000 bond.

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