Witness To Fatal Crash Stole Survivor's Purse: Burbank Police

BURBANK, CA — A 61-year-old bystander took advantage of a fatal car crash in Burbank to steal a seriously injured woman's purse and credit cards in the aftermath of the crash, according to the Burbank Police Department.

Authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of a homeless man who was interviewed by police as a witness on the day of the April 28 crash.

Burbank Police Department officers responded about 12:30 p.m. April 28 to the area of Front Street and Magnolia Boulevard after receiving reports of a two-car collision nearby. The driver of a blue sedan was pronounced dead at the scene, and a woman in a white SUV suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Burbank Police Department.

She was taken to a hospital by paramedics, and police interviewed Harayer Haghoubian, a homeless man who witnessed the crash that day.

The woman's husband later reported to police that her purse was stolen from her vehicle following the collision. He also found that her credit cards had been used at several establishments in the Glendale and Burbank areas.

Police reviewed surveillance images from the site of the collision as well as the establishments where the credit cards were used, and identified the suspect as Harayer Haghoubian, who had given a witness account to officers on the day of the collision.

Haghoubian was arrested about 11:30 a.m. at an encampment where he resides, near the site of the collision, according to detectives.

Haghoubian allegedly admitted in an interview to using the woman's credit cards, and was booked for identity theft, the Burbank Police Department reported.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.