George Zimmerman rescues family in car wreck

George Zimmerman, who was acquitted earlier this month of murder in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, helped rescue a family from an overturned vehicle in Florida last week, authorities said Monday.

Zimmerman, 29, was among two men who pulled the two adults and two children out of the overturned sport utility vehicle Wednesday, barely four days after the not-guilty verdict, the Seminole County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office said.

“He did not witness the crash,” sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Cannaday said. “He rolled up on it after the fact and assisted in getting the family out of the vehicle.”

Cannaday said no one was injured. The family’s identity and race were not immediately known.

Asked if Zimmerman was being called a hero, Cannaday said, “We're not going that far.”

The verdict in the racially charged Martin case has sparked protests in cities across the country as well as calls for state legislatures to review “Stand Your Ground” self-defense laws, which allow people in fear of their lives to use deadly force rather than retreat.