GLENDALE DRIVER ARRESTED IN DEATH.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

CASTAIC - A weekend camping trip turned tragic for three friends when a 22-year-old Glendale man was killed in a car crash and his buddy, the driver, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.

Arthur Petrossian of Glendale died early Saturday morning after Fredik Azarian, 21, slammed his 1992 Toyota into a steel pole at the end of a roadway, the California Highway Patrol reported Monday.

The trio had been camping at Frenchman Flats Campground near Castaic and had been drinking, said Officer Doug Sweeney, a CHP spokesman. One of the friends stayed behind when Petrossian and Azarian left for a store in Castaic.

``They were camping out, and they ran out of cigarettes,'' Sweeney said. ``They were on their way back when the driver didn't see the steel pole and ran right into it.''

Azarian of Burbank was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 percent, nearly twice the limit at which a driver is considered drunk. He was hospitalized with moderate injuries.

Petrossian has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and, after his release from Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, will be transported to Los Angeles County Jail.

``Based on the severity of the incident, he's under 24-hour watch,'' Sweeney said.