JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An Orlando security guard was arrested after police say he shot a Jacksonville man late last month while the victim was in central Florida to attend a monster jam.
Anthony James Mack, 23, was charged Tuesday with aggravated battery and booked into the Orange County Jail. He is accused to shooting 33-year-old Jimmy Crook.
Crook told News4Jax he and a friend were going to Checkers to get food when they encountered Mack. When the encounter ended, Crook said he had a bullet in his back.
"When I walked up, I didn't even have a chance to turn, it was that quick," Crook told News4Jax last week. "I could've been killed that night, and I'm just thankful to be alive."
Mack told police he who was on his way home from at a nearly apartment complex when he saw Crook and his friend driving erratically on John Young Parkway near West Colonial Drive, near the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Mack said he blew his horn and the men got out of their vehicle and got into an argument with him. He said the driver then got back in the truck, but Crook did not. Crook said he never entered Mack's vehicle, but a statement Mack's company-- Urban Enforcement and Protection -- said Crook got in the guard's car and tried to hit him.
Wednesday, News4Jax obtained a copy of the affidavit for the arrest warrant in which a witness corroborated Crook's version of events.
"Crook was about 3 to 4 feet from the window of the truck when he was shot," the witness told police, adding he "never observed the male reach into the vehicle."
According to family members, Jimmy Crook was scheduled to have surgery Wednesday afternoon to remove all of part of his lung Wednesday afternoon.
Family members say Crook will be in the hospital for at least another two weeks.