GRIFFITH PARK—On October 8, at 3 p.m., the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a hit-and-run call in Griffith Park. Upon arriving at the scene, officers found 70-year-old Valeriy Saakyan, who died after being struck by female driver in his light blue 2006 Lexus sedan.
The LAPD reported on its website Saakyan lost his footing, stumbled to the ground, and “was intentionally run over by his own vehicle driven by a female suspect” who was driving northbound in a parking lot near Western Canyon Road. The suspect fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle
Paramedics with the Los Angeles Fire Department transported Saakyan to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
On October 9, at approximately 10 a.m. officers from the Hollywood Patrol were traveling in the vicinity of Vine Street when they noticed a car covered in a blue tarp. The car was a light blue 2006 Lexus with collision damage.
Officers ran the plates and discovered a felony warrant involving a hit-and-run from October 8. Officers took her in for questioning at LAPD Hollywood Station, who was later identified as 32-year-old, Sonia Sovereign, from Los Angeles.
In an interview with Detective Ramirez of the LAPD Central Traffic Division, Sovereign confessed to the crime. She was arrested and booked for murder at the Metropolitan Detention Center, 535 Almeda Street in Los Angeles. Her bail was set at $1,000,000.
