Judge delays crash sentence

PASADENA — The sentencing hearing for a 20-year-old Glendale man convicted of paralyzing a 38-year-old driver after a 2009 street-racing crash was postponed Wednesday to Jan. 25.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Teri Schwartz moved Aren Aznavoleh’s sentencing to Jan. 25 because she said a probation report was still needed.

Some of Aznavoleh’s family members broke out in tears when he walked handcuffed into the courtroom wearing a light-green inmate uniform.

He was found guilty Dec. 10 of two felony counts of reckless driving and two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. The jury also found him guilty of causing great bodily harm to Rafick Darosee, who was paralyzed and bed-ridden as a result of the crash, and on his 19-year-old car passenger, Tadeh Haghvirdi, who suffered a broken arm.

Evidence and witness testimony during the trial showed that Aznavoleh was racing against a white BMW on Glenoaks Boulevard at 61 mph when he ran through a red light and crashed into Darosee’s Nissan Sentra while he was making a turn.

Aznavoleh had testified though an Armenian interpreter that he tried to stop, but faulty brakes on his parents’ car caused him to crash into Darosee. He also denied racing the BMW.

Police officials testified that they found nothing wrong with the brakes, and that no skid marks were found to show that he tried to stop.

He faces a maximum nine years in state prison, prosecutors said.

The victims’ family members will likely speak at the sentencing, officials said.