Police: Woman stepped out between two parked cars when fatally struck
An 88-year-old Glendale woman was struck and fatally injured by a car Saturday on Doran Street near Glendale Avenue, police said.
The woman, who police identified as Balasan Mirzabegianliwasgan, was pronounced dead that evening at Glendale Adventist Medical Center.
While the collision remains under investigation, Mirzabegianliwasgan appeared to have stepped out from between two parked vehicles on Doran Street about 6:30 p.m. and was crossing in the middle of the street, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.
A 2012 Ford Focus, driven by a 26-year-old Glendale man, was traveling west on Doran when it struck her, police said.
He was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was released at the scene, according police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot. She added that he does not appear to be at fault.
Mirzabegianliwasgan’s death marks the third pedestrian fatality in Glendale this year. Her death was also the fourth fatality that has occurred in the city this year.
The first death occurred March 5 when a 19-year-old motorist, Armen Avanesian, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after he allegedly struck and killed 81-year-old Burbank resident Kenarik Thomassian Shamlian, who was reportedly jaywalking in the 1100 block of North Central Avenue, police said.
Avanesian was released at the scene as police continue to investigate Shamlian’s death, Lorenz said.
That same month, 55-year-old Stepan Vardanyan was killed when a car driven by 71-year-old Glendale motorist Wanda Wong plowed through Oledina’s Cake Factory in the 1100 block of East Broadway.
Vardanyan, of Glendale, was waiting for a cup of coffee at a counter about 12:30 p.m. on March 28 when Wong drove her Lexus across several lanes of traffic, into a strip mall’s parking lot and through the windows of the cake shop, police said. He was struck and pinned by Wong’s Lexus.
Investigators are still examining the fatal collision and are also looking “at the fact she suffered a seizure,” Lorenz said.
Roosevelt Middle School student Jonathan Hernandez, 13, was also killed this year after he was struck by a school bus while he was riding his bicycle.
His death was not deemed by police to be a pedestrian fatality, however, because his bicycle is considered to be a vehicle, Lorenz said.
Jonathan was reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed just after 2 p.m. on his bike, headed westbound in an eastbound lane at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Riverdale Drive, when he was struck and pinned by a school bus, police said. He later died at a local hospital.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to file charges against the bus driver due to a lack of evidence, according to spokeswoman Jean Guccione. The case was presented to prosecutors on Sept. 10.
Police investigators indicated that Jonathan caused the collision as a result of violating several vehicle codes, she added.
He was traveling the wrong way and failed to yield at the intersection, Lorenz said.
-- Veronica Rocha, veronica.rocha@latimes.com
Follow on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA
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