Indie Rock Artist Accused Of Using Car As Deadly Weapon Against Park Employee
PASADENA (CBS) — Officials say Arune Kavaliauskaite, who appears in a music video on youtube, used her car Friday as a deadly weapon against a Los Angeles County Park employee.
Authorities say the employee repeatedly warned Kavaliauskaite about having her dog unleashed in Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Pasadena.
Kristine Lazar, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, talked to sheriff's deputies about the incident.
Lazar reports words were allegedly exchanged between Kavaliauskaite -- who was sunbathing -- and the park employee after the employee warned the rocker to leash her dog for a third time.
Kavaliauskaite allegedly then got in her white Mustang and struck the employee with her vehicle, leaving her with injuries to her legs -- cuts, bruises and some swelling.
Kavaliauskaite, 28, a resident of Altadena, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Parks Bureau.
The county worker, who was not named, was released from a hospital several hours after the incident.
Deputies told Lazar that the rocker was the aggressor. After the third warning, the worker called her office for help after Kavaliauskaite allegedly became hostile. Sheriff's deputy Johnie Jones described her behavior as "bizarre and erratic." He added, "She got very angry with [the employee]. She started cursing at her. The situation was going south."
Jones said the park employee tried to take a photo of the Mustang's license plate when Kavaliauskaite tried to run her over and accelerated her vehicle. When she left the scene, sheriff's say the car rolled over the top of the park employee's shoes.
Sheriff's deputies arrested Kavaliauskaite at her home later that evening, and she was held on $35,000 bail. The Mustang was taken in for evidence.
A court date was scheduled for Tuesday in Superior Court in Pasadena.
