PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- Despite multiple reports from abroad indicating the investigation into the fatal traffic accident involving former PGA Tour regular Arjun Atwal has been closed, the Florida State Attorney's office said Wednesday that the case remains active and unresolved.
In fact, it's barely been processed.
A spokesperson for the State Attorney's office in Orlando said the case is still in the "intake process," meaning it has not yet been assigned to a prosecutor for evaluation. Atwal was involved in a crash a year ago this week outside Orlando and Florida Highway Patrol believes he was engaging in a high-speed street race with a man who was killed at the scene when his car veered off the road and flipped several times.
The case represents the first death tied to a PGA Tour player in decades. While playing in a European Tour event last week in his native India, Atwal said his lawyer told him the case had been dismissed.
"You know, it was just like a little ... it was not little; it was a lot distracting for me to play golf with," he said last week at the Johnnie Walker Classic. "It is a pain when you have to deal with other things besides golf, and luckily, you know, everything is sorted out now. So I can go back to concentrating on golf."
Danielle Tavernier, a spokesperson for the State Attorney's office, said the overseas reports were inaccurate. "It's an open, active case," she said.<!-- google_ad_section_end(name=storypage_article) -->
The FHP said Atwal was traveling at least 90 mph and recommended that the State Attorney pursue charges of vehicular homicide. It's up to the discretion of state prosecutors, however, to determine what charges Atwal will face, if any.
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