City Council backs Glendale police chief’s hit-and-run reward program plan

A streamlined hit-and-run program aimed at speeding up the effort to identify and arrest suspects is in the works per direction from the Glendale City Council on Tuesday.

Since 2007, the city has offered cash rewards on four occasions to individuals whose tips would have led to arrests. Only one, however, was collected anonymously; a $10,000 reward for information after the arrest of a driver in the hit-and-run death of a woman in south Glendale.

Historically, the City Council has voted on resolutions in order to offer rewards, but Glendale Police Chief Robert Castro said he wants that authority to be in the hands of the city manager so the money can be offered more quickly.

“The city manager could immediately authorize a reward, and we could put it out that night, if not the morning, and begin a campaign to obtain information,” Castro said during the council meeting.

Council members voted 5-0 in favor of creating the hit-and-run reward program.

Mayor Ara Najarian said he would like for whoever the mayor is at the time to give an OK to the city manager before a reward is made public.

At a previous meeting, Councilwoman Paula Devine recommended putting the issue on the agenda.

“I just feel if you had the flexibility, if the city manager could do this on the spot, it might be helpful,” she said during the meeting on Tuesday.

Castro said a reward program isn’t necessarily a deterrent for hit-and-run suspects, especially for those who may be drunk or high on drugs, but just one more thing that could help.

“What it does offer is another tool to a law enforcement agency so if they have a hit-and-run, they’re going to do everything they can to solve that hit-and-run,” he said.

Castro added that he’s looking to set the highest reward amount at $50,000, and in the past, the lowest amount has been $1,000.

Councilwoman Laura Friedman asked how often the chief envisions rewards being used.

“It would be in very limited circumstances,” Castro said.

He added he plans to extend the reach of the program to include suspects sought in serious felonies.

Councilman Zareh Sinanyan asked whether rewards could be offered for hit-and-run victims from Glendale who are killed or severely injured outside of the city.

Castro said there’s already an example of that with the reward offered in the case of Damian Kevitt, a local resident who lost his leg in a hit-and-run collision on Zoo Drive just outside of Glendale.

Castro said he would extend the program to just barely outside the community’s boundaries.

He said he expects to return with an ordinance for the council’s consideration by the end of the year.

In 2014, Glendale police officers responded to 732 hit-and-run incidents, though only 29 drivers were arrested.

Through this September, police logged 565 hit-and-run reports, but only 33 drivers were arrested.

This year’s statistics include a fatal crash involving 4-year-old Violeta Khahcatoorians, who was killed after running into oncoming traffic. The driver, who fled the scene, turned himself in the next day.