Verdugo and Towne Crash Injures Two
April 25, 2002
An early evening crash at the intersection of Verdugo Road and Towne Avenue, near the entrances of Glendale Community College parking lots F and C on April 8, left the two drivers involved injured and forced the closure of the intersection for at least an hour.
The accident tied up traffic on northbound Verdugo Road when all but one lane was closed.
The accident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. when the driver of a white model GMC Savana van, Edward Soghomonians, who had just dropped of his daughter at GCC, was traveling northbound on Verdugo Road and about to make a left turn onto west Towne Avenue. At the same time, Emma Karibkhanyan, driving a brown model Ford Taurus SE, was traveling southbound on Verdugo. Both vehicles collided when both assumed that each would avoid each other in time on a yellow light.
The impact caused both vehicles’ airbags to inflate upon impact. The van jumped the southwest curb of the intersection, narrowly missing a traffic light standard. All of the victims were wearing seatbelts.
College police arrived in minutes to help navigate traffic around the accident scene. No bystanders were injured in the collision.
Soghomonians, 53 and a resident of Burbank, suffered a broken right arm. Karibkhanyan, 43 of Glendale, suffered a broken right leg and a cut to her to head in the impact. Her daughter Lusine Asatryan, 18 from Glendale, was uninjured. They were all taken to local hospitals.
“These streets have become very dangerous,” said GCC student Vartan Bejanian, who also heard the accident.