Grand jury indicts two suspects

GLENDALE ? The Los Angeles County District Atty.'s office dropped charges on Wednesday against two 19-year-old North Hollywood men accused of shooting a Glendale teen on Halloween night last year, court officials said.

The suspects, instead, have been indicted by a grand jury, Deputy District Atty. Susan Schwartz said.

Prosecutors filed seven counts of attempted murder each against Mkrtich Melkonian and Hrant Barsegyan in November.

But on Wednesday, those charges were dropped and court proceedings against the two defendants were dismissed, Burbank Superior Court officials said.

"There is a superseding indictment," Schwartz said.

A grand jury handed down the indictment, charging Melkonian and Barsegyan each with seven counts of attempted murder with gang and gun allegations, earlier this month, she said.

The two pleaded not guilty to the charges on June 2.

"The grand jury is just a process that can be used in lieu of a preliminary hearing and that's what happened in this case," she said.

Police believe the two men allegedly confronted a then 17-year-old Glendale man and six of his friends at about 9:45 p.m. on Halloween night.

The teenager and his friends were in a white van parked at the corner of Glenwood Road and Alameda Avenue, when Melkonian and Barsegyan allegedly pulled up in a white Honda, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

The two parties got into a disagreement, and Melkonian allegedly got out of his Honda with a handgun and fired several shots, one of which hit the 17-year-old in the back, Lorenz said.

The teenager and his friends allegedly ran into Melkonian and Barsegyan again at Western Avenue and the Golden State (5) Freeway, at which point a second shooting occurred, Lorenz said, but no one was hit.

Melkonian and Barsegyan allegedly fled. They were later detained by Burbank Police for speeding.

Glendale Police arrested them that same night on suspicion of attempted murder, Lorenz said.

The teen was released from Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center several hours after the shootings.

A pretrial conference for the suspects is set for July 21.