Glendale PD vs. Mercedes Benz of North America, a division of Daimler Chrysler
GLENDALE - Police are looking for a man believed to be involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 24-year-old woman earlier this week, but their efforts were stymied Friday when an automaker refused to cooperate with investigators trying to locate the suspect’s car.
Police said Ara Grigoryan, 21, of Glendale is a “person of interest” who matches witnesses’ description of the man behind the wheel of the black Mercedes Benz-sedan that struck and killed Elizabeth Sandoval at Glendale Avenue near Windsor Road Tuesday.
The car is registered to one of Grigoryan’s relatives, but he has been cited for seven traffic violations over two years while driving the car, police spokesman John Balian said. They include failure to yield to pedestrians and three cases of speeding.
Police attempted to locate the car by requesting Mercedes Benz to activate the vehicle’s onboard tracking system.
Many recent model luxury cars are equipped with a global position system allowing authorities to locate them if they were stolen. Police presented two separate court orders Friday, but attorneys at the German automaker’s North American headquarters in New Jersey refused to comply.
A message left with Frank Berenz, an attorney representing Mercedes Benz, was not immediately returned.