Alleged hit-and-run driver held

NORTH GLENDALE — Two drivers followed and led police to a 20-year-old motorist whom they saw hit a 75-year-old man in a motorized wheelchair Monday as he crossed Western Avenue and Glenoaks Boulevard, police said.

The senior was moving along a marked crosswalk in his motorized wheelchair at 4:28 p.m. Monday on Glenoaks Boulevard as motorist Lucyneh Milagerdi of Sun Valley was headed north on Western Avenue, waiting to make a left turn onto Glenoaks, Glendale Police Officer Ben Bateman said.

When the green light turned yellow, Milagerdi allegedly made the left turn and hit the man, who had already made it to the second traffic lane, Bateman said.

The man was thrown about 12 feet from his wheelchair and hit the ground, but the motorist didn’t stop and fled west on Glenoaks, Bateman said.

“He suffered minor abrasions and complained of pain to his right side,” he said.

The man was taken by ambulance to Providence Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank.

Two drivers who were driving by and noticed that the motorist didn’t stop, so they followed her, Bateman said.

As they followed the car, they called police and described to them what had occurred, he said.

The drivers led police to Milagerdi, who was arrested at Glenwood Road and Linden Avenue on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and driving on a suspended California driver’s license, Bateman said.

Milagerdi has posted bail since the accident and was released early Tuesday from the Glendale Police Department jail, according to inmate information records.

Milagerdi’s car didn’t have license plates, even though there are plates issued to the car, Bateman said.

The drivers provided great help to police, who might not have been able to find Milagerdi because the car didn’t have license plates, Bateman said.

People who decide to help police and follow suspects should be cautious and safe, Lt. Carl Povilaitis said.

If a person sees a crime occur, he or she should call police and provide them with the suspect’s description, Povilaitis said.

“We don’t want people to take unnecessary risks,” he said.

Another man in a motorized wheelchair was hit by a motorist who fled after the crash Feb. 13 on New York Avenue near Foothill Boulevard in La Crescenta.

Police are still looking for the motorist involved in that hit-and-run.

The motorist may have been driving a white or light-colored Volkswagen, possibly a Jetta.

Anyone with details about the Feb. 13 crash is urged to call the Glendale Police Department at (818) 548-4840 or Glendale Crime Stoppers at (818) 507-7867.