JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man charged with killing another man at a Westside mobile home park late last year pleaded not guilty Thursday morning when he faced a judge.
Gregory Sangle Jr. is charged with second-degree murder and felony possession of a bulletproof vest in the death of Arthur George.
Sangle, who will be back in court Feb. 14, is accused of shooting George at the Three Seasons Mobile Home Village, which has been the subject of an unrelated News4JAX I-TEAM investigation into outrageous water bills.
Police said Sangle told them he shot George in self-defense.
Investigators said Sangle told police he fired at George after George hit him with a board. But police say evidence at the scene tells a different story.
The shooting happened a few days before the new year.
Police said when they arrived at the scene, they found George on the wheelchair ramp to his home, with his cellphone under his right hand.
They also found a 2-by-8 board on the ramp.
George died there at the scene. Detectives said Sangle’s story of self-defense doesn’t add up, because George could not have swung the board meaningfully with his cellphone in his dominant hand.
It’s still unclear how the men might have known each other, if they knew each other at all.
Court records have Sangle listed as a transient, and it’s unclear what he was doing at the mobile home park that day.