Driver Held in Wreck That Killed 2

A 20-year-old Glendale man was arrested for allegedly causing an accident in which a father and daughter were killed and then fleeing, authorities said Thursday.

Jorge Ayala, 20, was arrested Wednesday night, minutes after he allegedly ran a stop sign, broadsided another car and ran to his nearby home, police said.

Karapet Khajehtorians, 57, and his daughter Janice, who was in her early 20s, were killed when their car was hit at Elk Avenue and Everett Street about 11 p.m., Sgt. Dean Durand said.

Ayala was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit and run. His father, Juan Ayala, 53, was also arrested as an accessory for providing false information to investigators, police said.

The Khajehtorians were headed south on Everett Street in a 1975 Datsun after the father had picked up his daughter from work at a nearby fast-food restaurant, when they were hit by a 1977 Camaro, Durand said.

When police arrived shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, the driver of the Camaro had fled but a check of the registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles led investigators to Ayala’s residence, Durand said.

Juan Ayala told investigators the car had been stolen earlier, but witnesses told police that they saw Jorge Ayala cause the accident and run away, Durand said.

Karapet Khajehtorians was dead at the scene and Janice Khajehtorians was pronounced dead on arrival at Glendale Adventist hospital. Jorge and Juan Ayala were being held at Glendale City Jail.