Stray bullet found in car

A stray bullet has turned one Fountain Valley family into amateur crime scene investigators.

Norayr Dervartanian was startled from his sleep in the early morning hours April 7 by a loud sound. He dismissed the uproar but his wife decided to investigate.

“I went back to sleep but she was more courageous and she went out to see what happened,” Dervartanian said.

She found nothing amiss until the next morning when she was filling up her 2007 Toyota RAV4. The driver’s side back-seat window was broken. They reasoned someone must have broken the window as the car was parked in front of the Fountain Valley couple’s garage, which explained the blast they heard.

The couple’s son-in-law, Troy Witt, had a different idea when he looked at the damage. He thought something like a BB or pellet had penetrated the window, Dervartanian said.

Their impromptu forensics investigation found a hole in the back of the headrest, confirming something had broken the window and lodged itself in the back of the seat.

Dervartanian, an X-ray technician, decided to continue the improvised CSI investigation. He brought the headrest into his lab and took an X-ray.

The results revealed a bullet — much bigger than anything from a pellet gun.

He hadn’t thought it was that big of a deal before, so Dervartanian didn’t involve the police. When he found the bullet, though, he decided to report the incident.

Dervartanian brought the results of his investigation including the headrest and pack of X-rays to the Fountain Valley Police Department.

Officer Jarrod Frahm cut open the headrest and confirmed the object was indeed a .40 caliber bullet, which was taken as evidence.

Dervartanian said he believes the bullet was a stray and doubts there is any threat against his life, but the impromptu investigation was an exciting experience.

Insurance will cover the damages to car.

JOSH ADEN may be reached at (714) 966-4609 or at josh.aden@latimes.com.