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Glendale Police arrested a mother and her adult daughter Friday evening for their alleged role in—and purported cover-up of—the death of an 81-year-old man killed in a hit-and-run crash last month, according to the L.A. Times.
Investigators think 67-year-old Goar Davtyan was in control of the white Toyota that struck and killed 81-year-old Martiros Arutyunyan on April 16th. She was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run as well as felony vehicular manslaughter. Her daughter, 41-year-old Alina Davtyan, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to the crime, as well as filing a false insurance claim.
Arutyunyan was killed at around 8 p.m. on Saturday April 16, 2016. While crossing Broadway at Belmont, he was struck by what witnesses originally described as a new-model white sedan, according to KABC. Arutyunyan was rushed to a hospital, where he later died from head injuries.
Surveillance footage from nearby the scene captured a white Toyota Camry, which witnesses said matched the description of the vehicle that struck and killed the grandfather.
Police identified Davtyan as a potential suspect early into their investigation, according to KTLA. They impounded her vehicle and forensically examined it for traces of Arutyunyan's DNA.
While we don't know exactly how Glendale PD connected Davtyan to the crime, it might have something to do with the fact that her daughter, Alina Davtyan, filed an insurance claim for damage to the vehicle. As the Times' reports, Alina Davtyan allegedly told police that the car's damage came from a different collision, not the hit-and-run. The damage to the vehicle, as well as its matching the description of the vehicle that killed Arutyunyan, probably clued-in police.
As Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William explained, "There's strong evidence against both of them, including surveillance footage... There's evidence that does not corroborate the daughter's story."
Hitting and killing a man with your car is already bad. Running away from the scene of the crime makes it worse (and a felony). Attempting to insurance fraud it all away is abject.
Arutyunyan's death was the third pedestrian fatality in Glendale this year.
