Left inset: Naria Harutjunjan with her dog Lulu. Right: Video footage shows UPS driver walking away (KCAL)
A Los Angeles, California, dog owner is reportedly considering litigation against UPS and one of its drivers after her dog was killed last week by a 55-pound package dropped over a gate outside her home, as neighbors looked on.
Surveillance footage aired by local CBS affiliate KCAL showed the moments last Wednesday evening that a UPS truck stopped in North Hills, its driver exiting the vehicle to deliver the package across the street to Naria Harutjunjan’s home, with tragic results for her and Lulu, a dog she reportedly rescued as recently as one year ago.
The package did appear to be heavy based on how slowly the UPS worker was walking across the street, as captured by a neighbor’s surveillance video.
During a segment aired on the news, Harutjunjan said that when she went outside to retrieve the package she saw that Lulu was underneath and “[s]he couldn’t move anymore.”
Naria Harutjunjan speaks on the news (KCAL).
The video footage also showed the UPS worker bending down after pushing the package over the gate, though it’s unclear if he realized what had happened before driving off. At the same time the UPS worker got back into the driver’s seat, however, screams of agony could be heard, and at least one neighbor was walking around outside to wheel his garbage can back in from the curb at the time.
UPS driver bends down to look after delivering the package (KCAL).
“They helped me with the dog,” Harutjunjan said of her neighbors during the KCAL interview. “I brought her to the Mission Hills clinic, but they said she passed away.”
If Harutjunjan is seriously considering filing a lawsuit, which the latest reporting suggests, that might be because California Civil Code does allow “exemplary damages” when “animals being subjects of property” are wrongfully harmed in the course of “gross negligence,” which is defined as “the lack of any care or an extreme departure from what a reasonably careful person would do in the same situation to prevent harm to oneself or to others.”
Harutjunjan claimed the driver should have rung her doorbell but didn’t do so.
After Law&Crime reached out to UPS for comment, the company responded that it is aware of the “situation” and that it is “certainly concerned” about what took place. UPS also said it has been in touch with Harutjunjan.
“We’re aware of the situation in North Hills. We are certainly concerned and have been in contact with the customer,” UPS said. “We are investigating and will take appropriate action.”
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
