PUBLIC SAFETY
Alleged hit-and-run driver returned to city
A 23-year-old Glendale man who allegedly drove into a parked car, killing one teenager and critically injuring another, was returned to Los Angeles Tuesday, after fleeing to Toronto with plans to travel to Armenia.
Andranik Manukovich Atshemyan is charged with one count of murder and one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident in connection with a fatal traffic collision on Nov. 19.
Atshemyan allegedly drove his 1998 Land Rover SUV into a raised traffic calming circle in the middle of the intersection, veered to the right, then hit a parked 1993 Nissan 240SX.
The Nissan, which was occupied by a 17-year-old boy and 18-year-old Oscar Torres, of Burbank, began a chain reaction, smashing into four other parked cars in front of it.
Torres died on Thanksgiving Day -- the same day Canadian officials apprehended Atshemyan while he was trying to get through customs to enter Canada, Glendale Police Det. Keith Soboleski said.
The 17-year-old victim remains in critical condition.
Atshemyan is scheduled to appear in Glendale Superior Court today for his arraignment.
CITY HALL
Cerritos Park gets final OK
The City Council approved final plans Tuesday for a one-acre park adjacent to Cerritos Elementary School.
The $4-million Cerritos School Park will be a joint-use project between the city and the Glendale Unified School District. The school district will chip in $171,000 for lighting of the Cerritos Elementary School grass field and basketball courts and for construction of a new parking lot, with the city paying the remainder.
The park will be open to the public during school hours, with the parking lot shared between park patrons and Cerritos teachers, but the field, courts and play facilities will only be open to the public evenings and weekends.
The park will include a half-acre open lawn area, restrooms, storage facilities, a tot lot with play equipment, canvas-shaded tables and benches, and an interactive water play area. It will be located on San Fernando Road between Brand Boulevard and Glendale Avenue.
Construction of the new park -- which is the fifth mini-park to be approved by the council in the past five years -- is scheduled to begin in the summer, with a grand opening set for January 2007.
* A faulty underground cable caused power to go out to 14,000 Glendale Water and Power customers on Tuesday, snarling traffic and leaving people stranded on elevators in the northern part of the city.
