The Cupertino Courier

News

Sunnyvale man is killed in a local motorcycle accident

By Hugh Biggar

The local Armenian community lost one of its own Nov. 6.

According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, Sunnyvale resident Harout Mekhdjian, 21, was killed just after 2 p.m. in a motorcycle accident at a De Anza College parking lot at Stevens Creek Boulevard and Stelling Road.

"It was a single-vehicle accident," said Morgan Taylor, a traffic officer with the sheriff's office. "I don't have all the information yet, but from what I understand, he borrowed a friend's motorcycle and drove it up a slight raise," Taylor said. "On the way down, he saw a parking lot curb, panicked and braked suddenly, causing the bike to fall."

Mekhdjian's death drew large crowds to services Nov. 9 at St. Andrew's Armenian Church in Cupertino.

"He was an exemplary young man," said Analid Nalvarian, a director of programs at the church. "He was a student at De Anza and San Jose State, head of a Boy Scouts group, a good student and a good friend."

According to Mekhdjian's page on the online site, MySpace.com, he worked at NASA in 2005, studied management information systems at San José State University and liked cars, video games and the movie Star Wars.

Several postings from his friends on the site said, "I love you" and "I will never forget you."

According to Nalvarian, people lined up out the door for three services for Mekhdjian at St. Andrew's.

Mekdjian, a 1999 graduate of Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, is survived by his parents of Sunnyvale and two sisters.