Griffith Park

Woman Arrested in Hit-and-Run Death of Man in Griffith Park

Police are looking for a driver who fatally struck a man in the Griffith Park area, possibly during an argument.

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Police on Sunday arrested the woman who allegedly killed a 70-year-old man by running him over with his own car in a Griffith Park parking lot, then fled the scene.

The crash was reported as an assault with a deadly weapon at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in the 2400 block of Fern Dell Drive, Los Angeles Police Officer J. Chaves told City News Service.

Valeriy Saakyan lost his footing and fell to the ground and was intentionally run over by his own light blue 2006 Lexus in the parking lot at the park's Western Canyon Road, according to a police department statement. 

Paramedics rushed Saakyan to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Officers from the LAPD's Hollywood Station were on patrol around 10 a.m. Sunday in the area of Lexington Avenue and Vine Street when they saw a vehicle with collision damage and a blue tarp over it, then discovered it was wanted in a felony hit-and-run, police said.

The suspect, identified as 32-year-old Sonia Sovereign, was detained after she was seen getting out of the vehicle, police said. 

Sovereign allegedly confessed to the crime during an interview with Ramirez, police said. She was booked for suspicion of murder at the Metropolitan Detention Center and held on $1 million bail.

Copyright City News Service
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