MESA, Ariz. (AP) - A 32-year-old Phoenix man is accused of deliberately running over a man during what Mesa police described as a hit-and-run motivated by road rage.
Frank Martin Lawrence III remained jailed Friday in lieu of $1 million bond after being arrrested in the Jan. 17 death of 22-year-old James Ackerman Jr.
Lawrence was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of an accident.
A police probable-cause statement said Lawrence was driving a pickup that circled around a small car, and that he got out and punched the car’s female driver in the face through her car window as she sat in the car with Ackerman, her passenger.
Ackerman was recording video of the incident on his cellphone and continued doing that from outside the vehicle after Lawrence returned to his truck and drove away, the statement said.
The pickup then turned around and its driver purposely hit Ackerman, sending him flying to a sidewalk where he landed and hit his head, the statement said.
The pickup left the scene and Ackerman died at a hospital, the statement said.
The incident began when Lawrence was driving erratically and followed the woman’s car into an apartment complex parking lot, the statement said.
Police said their investigation included reviewing Ackerman’s video and emails sent by Lawrence, and interviewing people who included a witness who was Lawrence’s passenger in the pickup.
The pickup hasn’t been located, police said.
Lawrence already was awaiting trial on an unrelated felony charge accusing him of aggravated assault in another incident. He pleaded not guilty in that case.
Lawrence’s attorney in the road-rage case, Carissa Jakobe, did not immediately return a call for comment regarding the latest allegations against her client.
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