Attorney Killed Man Who Hit Car With Golf Ball: Cops

One man is dead and another is facing a murder charge over an incident involving a Mercedes-Benz and a golf ball, police say. Investigators believe attorney Bryan Schmitt deliberately ran over real estate investor Hamid Jahangard on July 30 because he thought the man had thrown a golf ball at his vehicle, USA Today reports. Schmitt, 48, told police he confronted Jahangard after seeing him throw a rock or ball at his vehicle from a driveway in Sandy Springs, 16 miles north of Atlanta. He claimed that when he tried to pull into the driveway, Jahangard hurled a trash can at the car and he accidentally hit the man when swerving to avoid it. The 60-year-old father of two died in a hospital two days later. Police let Schmitt drive home after the incident, but he was arrested two weeks later when surveillance video failed to back up his story.

Police say the driveway was 23 feet wide, meaning Schmitt would have had plenty of space to swerve around Jahangard. A police report states video shows that "Schmitt’s vehicle plows into the driveway and is not the type of driving for someone ... (to) 'swerve to miss a garbage can.'" Investigator JT Williams wrote: "The speed used to vault the garbage can, lift the front end of his car up and to slam the victim down so hard it causes a massive skull fracture ... is not an accident." Manoucher Jahangard told police he was on the phone with his brother and heard him say, "I did not throw anything, get out my face, get out my face," before the line went dead, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The phone was found lodged under Schmitt's windshield wiper. Schmitt, who has been in jail since his Aug. 12 arrest, was indicted Friday on charges including murder and aggravated assault. (More murder stories.)