iStock/Thinkstock(PARKLAND, Fla.) — The brother of the young man accused of killing 17 people at a high school in South Florida has been arrested for the second time.
A Broward County judge issued an out-of-county warrant for Zachary Cruz’s arrest on Tuesday afternoon, stating the 18-year-old had violated his probation.
Zachary Cruz was previously arrested for allegedly trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where his 19-year-old brother, Nikolas Cruz, allegedly opened fire on students and faculty on Valentine’s Day.
Zachary Cruz allegedly rode his skateboard through school grounds on March 19, later telling deputies he wanted to “reflect on the school shooting and soak it in,” according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. The alleged trespassing was captured on surveillance footage.
He had been warned previously to stay away from the school campus, deputies said. But the teen’s court-appointed attorney, Joseph Kimok, has denied this claim.
Zachary Cruz was placed on six months probation, among other restrictions, after pleading no contest to the trespassing charge before a judge at the Broward County Courthouse on March 29.
He violated the terms of his probation on Saturday by driving without a valid driver’s license and being within approximately 25 feet of a parking lot at Park Vista Community High School in Palm Beach County, according to the arrest warrant.
Zachary Cruz was arrested and booked into the main detention center at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday night. He was being held without bond pending a transfer to neighboring Broward County for a court appearance, according to jail records.
He hired a private lawyer, Mark Lowry, to represent him in the case. Lowry filed a notice of appearance and entered a written not guilty plea on behalf of Zachary Cruz on Wednesday.
Lowry did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Kimok, the attorney representing Zachary Cruz in the trespassing charge, said it’s unusual for probation to be violated for driving without a license and that his client isn’t banned from being near a school, other than Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
“We agreed that Zach could not go on school property but there was nothing in his plea that said he couldn’t go near a school. We all drive past and walk past schools every day and many public parks are located near schools so I’m concerned if, as it appears, [Broward County Sheriff’s Office] has violated him for going near a school,” Kimok told ABC News in an email Wednesday. “That just wasn’t a condition we agreed to as part of his plea.”
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on Kimok’s statement.
Zachary Cruz’s latest arrest comes three weeks after his brother was formally arraigned on a 34-count indictment related to the Feb. 14 school shooting, for which Nikolas Cruz faces the death penalty. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf, though defense attorney Melisa McNeill emphasized that Nikolas Cruz is willing “at any time” to plead guilty “in exchange for a waiver of the death sentence” and instead spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.