Gainesville man arrested for chasing 11-year-old through neighborhood and threatening to hit him with his car

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Brian Curtis Zoerheide, 69, was arrested yesterday after allegedly chasing an 11-year-old boy in his car and accelerating toward him.

At about 1:50 p.m. on October 18, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to Oak Park Mobile Home Park, where the 11-year-old victim said he had just mowed a resident’s yard and decided to knock on doors while waiting for his client to return and pay him. He said he saw a man sitting in his car with the driver’s side door open, and when he asked if he could mow his yard, the man cursed and yelled at him. The victim said that when he explained why he was there, the man said, “I hate black boys” and kept cursing at him as he apologized and walked away.

The victim walked back toward his own residence and said that two women called out to him and told him to look behind him, where he saw a red car driving toward him. He said he was walking against the flow of traffic and the car was on the wrong side of the road behind him, making him afraid that the driver would try to run him over. The victim described the man and his clothing.

One of the women reportedly told the deputy that she saw the man “verbally attacking” the boy while he was sitting in his car, and then he drove after the boy as he walked away. She said the man almost ran over the boy as his car sped past her position.

The other woman reportedly said she saw the man yelling at the boy, and after the boy walked away, she saw the man pick up a bicycle tire and carry it into his car. She said he “sped off” in the direction of the boy, and the next time she saw the boy, he appeared to be “panting, clearly distraught, and scared.” She called to the boy to run toward her, and she said the man opened his driver’s side door and held the bicycle tire out as he sped toward the boy.

The women said the boy got into their car for safety.

The man, later identified as Zoerheide, reportedly provided a written statement, saying he was frightened when he opened his door and saw the boy. He said he wanted to find out who the boy’s parents were, but “I in no way chased after him.”

Post Miranda, Zoerheide reportedly did not want to answer any questions without a lawyer.

The deputy’s investigation found that Zoerheide accelerated toward the boy, placing “a well-founded fear” in the boy that he would be harmed.

Zoerheide has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has no local criminal convictions; he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage in 2022 after an accident on I-75, but the charge was later dropped. Judge James Colaw set bail at $100,000.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.