A Georgia attorney told authorities a driveway encounter with a real estate investor turned deadly after the man threw a golf ball at his Mercedes-Benz — but video surveillance from the scene discovered weeks later instead shows the lawyer running him down in what appears to be a fit of road rage.
Bryan Keith Schmitt was indicted Friday on charges of murder, felony murder and aggravated assault in the death of 60-year-old Hamid Jahangard, who died days after getting hit by the Mercedes in a shared driveway outside an Atlanta residence.
Police responded to a 911 call on July 30 for a possible injured person at the rental property, owned by Jahangard, according to a news release obtained by the Marietta Daily Journal. When they arrived, officers found Jahangard lying bloodied on the sidewalk with passersby tending to his injuries.
First responders treated the father of two on the scene and then transported him to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries just two days later. His cause of death was determined to be blunt-force trauma to the head.
In subsequent interviews with authorities, Schmitt claimed he was passing the driveway when he saw Jahangard make a throwing motion. The next thing he knew, a rock or a golf ball had stuck his vehicle.
A golf ball was found near the scene though Schmitt’s Mercedes was not damaged, the Atlanta Constitution Journal reported.
Schmitt said the move prompted him to turn back and confront Jahangard. As soon as he tried to pull in to the driveway, Schmitt claimed the man threw a trash can at his car, causing him to swerve and strike Jahangard. It was an accident that could not have been avoided, he said.
After providing his initial statement, Schmitt was allowed to drive home in his vehicle, according to news outlet. He wasn’t arrested until nearly two weeks later — after video surveillance from an air conditioning service van traveling behind Schmitt’s vehicle revealed the fatal encounter.
“Schmitt’s vehicle plows into the driveway and is not the type of driving for someone to ‘turn around,’ ‘swerve to miss a garbage can,” Investigator J.T. Williams wrote in his report.
“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.”
Sgt. Sam Worsham told the Marietta Daily Journal officers now believe Jahangard accidentally struck Schmitt’s vehicle with a golf ball and the incident escalated into a fatal instance of road rage from there.
Schmitt was jailed without bond and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 27.
With News Wire Services
