By GABRIELLA BOCK | Reporter
Nearly two months after a fatal collision left one member of the “Ruthless Ryderz” motorcycle club dead—and another three critically injured—at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Chautauqua Avenue, Palisadian attorney Garo Mardirossian announced that his firm aims to charge the teenage driver, and his parents, with criminal offenses.
On April 2, a 16-year-old unlicensed driver from Brentwood was driving his parents’ Mercedes down Sunset when he made the fatal left turn that killed 36-year-old Ryderz motorcyclist David Badalyan.
“If we find substantial evidence that this boy’s parents gave him permission to take their car without having his license, then they will be brought into this case for their reckless involvement,” Mardirossian told the Palisadian-Post. “If this young man hadn’t been illegally operating a vehicle that day, then Mr. Babalyan would still be alive. Parents—especially in areas like Brentwood and the Palisades—need to act more responsibly when it comes to letting their children operate these 2,000-pound moving missiles.”
With the city now in the process of installing a left turn-arrow at the Sunset-Chautauqua intersection, Mardirossian has requested that Palisadians keep Babalyan in mind before giving their teenage drivers the green light to drive their vehicles without adult supervision.
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