Suspects may face assault charges

Two men who allegedly beat and robbed a prostitute are out on bail, police say.

May 03, 2011|By Veronica Rocha

GLENDALE — Prosecutors have yet to file charges against two Glendale men who allegedly beat and robbed a prostitute who doused one of them with pepper spray during the incident.

The men — Vardan Verdyan, 19, and Martin Zeynalyan, 20 — were arrested Thursday on suspicion of robbery and conspiracy after they attempted to flee from the incident, according to Glendale police reports.

They were released on $50,000 bail the same day, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reports.

They had not been charged as of Tuesday, said Shiara Dávila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The woman told police that she was a prostitute and that the men picked her up just after midnight on the corner of San Fernando Road and Lankershim Boulevard, where she allegedly negotiated a $400 deal for sex acts with the pair, according to police reports.

Verdyan, Zeynalyan and the woman drove to an apartment building on the 100 block of South Belmont Street, police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Soon after, the woman noticed $200 that had been placed on a table for her was missing. Another $150 that she had been carrying was also gone.

The woman asked about the money, Verdyan allegedly began hitting and pushing her out of the apartment, according to police.

That’s when she took out a can of pepper spray and doused him, according to police reports.

Verdyan allegedly grabbed her cell phone and shoved her outside the apartment, where she screamed for help, according to the reports.

The pair allegedly fled the apartment and took off in an orange Kia, but were later arrested.

Police found the woman bleeding from her left earlobe and knee, and she had red marks on her neck “as though she had been slapped several times,” according to the police report.

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