Crash kills 1; driver arrested

Amber Willard

GLENDALE -- A Glendale man was arrested early Thursday on suspicion of

felony drunken driving and first-degree murder following a crash near the

Burbank-Glendale border that killed a man who was riding in his car.

Armen Aharonian, 27, was speeding on West Alameda Avenue shortly after

12:30 a.m. when he failed to stop at a stoplight at Glenoaks Boulevard

and hit another car, Glendale Police said. Police from both Burbank and

Glendale responded to the collision.

One of Aharonian’s passengers, Aram K. Mkhitaryan, 28, of Northridge,

was ejected and died at the scene, Glendale Police Lt. Don Meredith said

in a written statement. Aharonian’s Mercedes-Benz was broadsided by a

Toyota that was traveling north on Glenoaks Boulevard, police said.

Aharonian’s car spun out of control and hit a sign post on the northwest

corner of Alameda Avenue. In the course of the collision, a passenger in

the Mercedes-Benz was thrown from the car, police said.

The occupants of the Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, whose names were also

not released, suffered moderate injuries and were taken to local

hospitals.

Aharonian was being held at Glendale City Jail Thursday evening.