Arrest made in Revere hit & run

REVERE – The woman suspected of killing a mentally disabled Revere man after she slammed into him with her car as he crossed Ocean Avenue in 2006 was arrested last Friday in New York City, authorities said.Milena Johana Henao Giraldo, 27, was taken into custody at the 115th Precinct police station in Queens, N.Y., according to the New York Police Department.Giraldo was indicted by a grand jury on charges of motor vehicle homicide and leaving the scene of an accident in July following the Dec. 31, 2006 death of George Azarian, who was 61 years old and lived in a small apartment above the Shipwreck bar on Revere Beach Boulevard at the time of his death.Authorities said Azarian was in the crosswalk when Giraldo struck him and kept going.”George Azarian was left to die alone in a crosswalk,” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said in July. “He deserved better. We can’t return him to those who loved him, but we can do everything in our power to bring the person responsible for his death to justice.”An NYPD spokesperson had few details of Giraldo’s arrest Thursday, but said she was placed into custody after police determined Massachusetts State Police had issued a warrant for her arrest. It was unclear if Giraldo turned herself into police or was picked up.Giraldo will likely be returned to Massachusetts within the next few days, a law enforcement source said.Giraldo was living in an apartment at 31-45 Crescent St., Queens, N.Y. in the months before her arrest Jan. 18, the NYPD said.After her grand jury indictment in July, authorities said they were worried Giraldo might have fled the country, but the DA’s Office didn’t specify her immigration status. The NYPD has a policy of not discussing a person’s immigration status.After police tracked down the car used in the accident, in part with the help of surveillance cameras mounted at the corner of Ocean and Shirley avenues where the accident occurred, investigators visited a Winthrop home and spoke with the registered owner of the car, who told them she registered the vehicle in her name in order for Giraldo to use it. Giraldo was friends with the registered owner’s daughter.The vehicle’s owner also told police she registered the car in her name to save Giraldo insurance money, authorities said.Immediately after the fatal accident, Giraldo allegedly took the Dodge Intrepid to an East Boston auto repair shop. Investigators seized several broken automotive parts, including a windshield, right headlight and hood.”State Police seized the damaged parts, subjected them to forensic examination, and determined that they were entirely consistent with an impact such as the one captured on the security tape,” Conley said.Authorities added Giraldo also failed to give a friend a ride to work on New Year’s Eve as expected and Giraldo failed to show up at her own job at a Revere restaurant on Dec. 31.Azarian lived in the apartment above the Shipwreck bar for about 15 years, since his mother died. His landlord and Shipwreck bar owner Louis Padova looked after him and said following his death that Azarian was returning from his usual breakfast at Bagel Bin Deli when he died.