A 4-year-old girl was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver after wandering into the street in front of her Glendale home on Friday afternoon.
The girl was playing in her front yard just before 5 p.m. when she walked onto Wilson Street and into the path of an oncoming car, according to Sgt. Tom Lorenz with the Glendale Police Department.
“It is apparent that the child unfortunately ran into the street in between two parked cars,” Lorenz said.
The impact threw the child 40 feet. She landed on the back of another car, shattering the rear window, according to Lorenz.
The girl, identified by relatives as Violeta Khachaturyan, was transported to Glendale Adventist where she was pronounced dead, police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot said.
The driver fled the scene in a white or beige-colored sedan that would likely have front end damage, according to Lorenz.
“Not remaining at the scene is a hit-and-run,” Lorenz said. “And it is a felony.”
A distraught family friend call the driver an “animal.”
“You can’t do that and leave,” Lianna Simonyn said. “It’s very sad.”
Anyone who witnessed the crash was urged to come forward.
Police initially reported that the girl was crossing the street with her family when she was hit.