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Driver gets probation in crash that electrocuted 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man was sentenced to three years of probation Wednesday for a car wreck that led to the electrocution of two people who rushed to help him, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Arman Samsonian, 21, of Glendale, will also have to perform 70 days of community service and spend a day working at the county morgue, the district attorney’s office said in a statement. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic also ordered Samsonian to pay restitution to both victims.

Samsonian’s car hit a fire hydrant in August 2012, and two good Samaritans who ran to help him stepped in water electrified by a toppled light pole.

Witnesses said Samsonian was in a hurry to get to the gym when he crashed into the fire hydrant. His lawyer said that he might have been speeding but that he could not have foreseen the possibility of an electrified pool of water.

Daniel Woloszyn, whose wife, Irma Zamora, died when she tried to help Samsonian, said they were in the line of cars behind him when he crashed. He said his 40-year-old wife called 911 on her cellphone and then raced over to help the driver. She died when she stepped into electrified water.

Another woman, Stacey Schreiber, 39, was killed when she tried to help Zamora.

Samsonian pleaded no contest in May to vehicular manslaughter.

The judge said Samsonian will go to prison if he commits another vehicular violation while on probation.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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