ACTOR WAS DRIVING IN FATAL CRASH OF 17-YEAR-OLD VAHAGN SETIAN
By Erika Hayasaki, Richard Winton and Jessica Garrison
Times Staff Writers

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December 5, 2006

Inquiry begins into why a Beverly Hills High student, who died,
and 2 girls were in the SUV.

Police and school officials Monday were investigating why three
teenagers were riding with a TV actor when his Land Rover struck
a tree Saturday, killing a 17-year-old Beverly Hills High School
student and critically injuring the two others.

Lane Garrison, 26, a co-star of the Fox television drama "Prison
Break," showed signs of "alcohol intoxication" when he was questioned
by police, said Lt. Mitch McCann of the Beverly Hills Police
Department. Alcohol containers were found inside the SUV, he said.

Garrison has not been arrested, and law enforcement sources said
detectives are awaiting the results of the actor’s blood test.

His lawyer, Harland Braun, said the actor "doesn’t remember anything
about the accident…. He thinks he was driving but he can’t swear
to it."

Police, however, put Garrison behind the wheel when he lost control
of his SUV and crashed into a tree in the 300 block of South Beverly
Drive.

The crash killed 17-year-old Vahagn Setian. Two 15-year-old girls
who also were in the vehicle were taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

One has been released from the hospital and the other is in serious
condition, officials said.

The girls do not attend Beverly Hills High, and authorities did not
release information about them.

According to Braun, Garrison met the teens, who were fans, at a grocery
store and accompanied them to a party, where he had one drink. About
an hour later, the actor left the party to meet a female friend and
the teens asked if they could go with him, Braun said.

Garrison said yes.

The next thing Garrison recalled was waking up at Century City Doctors
Hospital — where he was treated for minor injuries — with a taxicab
voucher in his lap, Braun said.

"There is always the possibility that someone put something in the
drink," Braun said, adding that the blood test would show that.

"We’re still trying to figure out what happened," said the lawyer,
adding that Garrison was having trouble with his vehicle’s brakes and
the SUV pulled to the right. He said police would examine the vehicle.

Garrison, who lives in Beverly Hills, was "despondent" and
"overwhelmed" by the incident, Braun said.

Police said "the investigation into Mr. Garrison’s impairment is
ongoing."

"Mr. Garrison is not related to any one of the people in the car,"
McCann said.

Beverly Hills police brought in crash-scene investigators to try to
reconstruct the accident. McCann said in such cases it usually takes
six to eight weeks for some action on the incident.

On Monday, students arrived at Beverly Hills High wearing green,
Setian’s favorite color. The guitar player and former drama student
was known for sporting a green Rastafarian-style beret.

With grief counselors on hand, school officials dismissed students
early for a memorial at the crash site.

News about the crash spread quickly among students via text messages,
e-mail and cellphones. By 3 p.m. Sunday, more than 100 students
had locked hands around a candlelight memorial in Roxbury Park near
the campus, where students placed flowers and cartons of Dunhills,
Setian’s favorite brand of cigarettes.

Juilan Wan, 16, said Setian was one of his best friends. The two
boys had breakfast together on the day of the accident. Wan said that
Setian knew he was leaving for Japan at the end of the month and gave
him a rosary.

Wan recalled that Setian told him: "When we can’t be together, this
is how I want you to remember me."

"It felt like this was coming," Wan said. "Nothing was left unsaid.

He knew he was one of my best friends."

Friends nicknamed Setian "Va Häagen-Dazs," like the ice cream. Wan
said he did not know why Setian got into the car with Garrison on
Saturday, but his half-Greek, half-Armenian friend always "lived for
the moment."

Beverly Hills High student Katie Havard, 16, remembered when Setian
had a crush on her a few years ago, and used to carry her picture in
his wallet.

"He was friends with every group at our school," she said. "From the
smart kids to the jocks to the stoners … this has really brought
us together. There wasn’t a student at our school who was more
universally loved."

Havard’s mother, Melissa, said the tragedy reminds students that
"your life is not infallible." She said she hopes this will lead to
student discussions at school about drinking and driving.

"People are human and they make mistakes, especially teens," she said,
adding that now is not the time to wag a finger at them. "Right now
it’s a time to give them love."

Student body president Josh Tucker, 17, said the campus was in shock
and that teachers had a hard time conducting classes.

Setian was "one of those kids that everybody knows in the school,"
Tucker said. "Everyone has the same story" on the impact he had on
their lives.

The school was reeling from the accident, said Myra Lurie, president
of the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education.

"We’re all very sad," she said, adding that the community was baffled
as to what Setian was doing in the SUV with the actor.

"Nobody knows. It’s just very odd," she said. "We have no idea how
it all transpired."

Garrison plays one of the escaped convicts on "Prison Break." In an
interview with People magazine in May, Garrison said he once was a
troubled teenager who turned his life around.

At 15, after a botched attempt to steal a jug of wine from a stranger’s
garage, he ran home, where, he said, "my mother just slapped the crap
out of me. She drove me to the police station. The cops handcuffed
me and put me in a cell to scare me."

Garrison was sentenced to community service and spent a lot of time
mowing lawns.

He told People that when he was 17, he moved in with his family’s
minister, Joe Simpson, the father of pop singer and actress Jessica
Simpson.

"I’m very grateful to him," he told the magazine, adding, "Jessica
and I grew up together."

*

erika.hayasaki@latimes.com

ri chard.winton@latimes.com

jessica.garrison@latimes .com

Times staff writer Jean Guccione contributed to this report.

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