Man turns himself in after thinking he killed his daughter’s boyfriend

GLENDALE — A 63-year-old man turned himself into police Tuesday after he allegedly struck his daughter’s boyfriend in the head with a pipe while he was sleeping, police said.

The father of a Glendale resident, Levon Hovanesyan, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and mayhem, which means that a victim’s body part was disabled, disfigured or rendered useless, according Glendale Police Department reports.

“It’s not common on a day-to-day basis for someone who has committed a serious assault or attempted to kill someone,” Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said of people turning themselves into police.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office had not filed charges against Hovanesyan as of Wednesday afternoon, but police were investigating the case and planned to present charges.

The boyfriend, Mauricio Buendia, 33, of Glendale was taken to Glendale Memorial Hospital after the alleged attack, Lorenz said. He was released Wednesday from the hospital, police said.

Hovanesyan walked in to the police department on Isabel Street about 7:45 a.m., headed toward the front desk with his hands raised and signaled to his wrists to be handcuffed, Lorenz said.

He told an Armenian police translator that he wanted to turn himself in “because he thought he killed someone,” Lorenz said.

About the same time, police were dispatched to the hospital to check on the boyfriend’s condition.

That morning, Hovanesyan entered his daughter’s bedroom while she was getting ready for work, Lorenz said.

That’s when he allegedly struck her boyfriend’s head with a pipe, he said.

Hovanesyan had been living with his daughter since January after moving from Armenia, Lorenz said.

The boyfriend, who doesn’t live at the Acacia Avenue apartment, was able to tell police that he recalled Hovanesyan entering the bedroom and approaching him.

“That’s the last thing he remembers,” Lorenz said.

The night before the incident, the boyfriend and his daughter had a lengthy shouting match, Lorenz said.

“The verbal argument was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said.