S. Pasadena Reopens Probe of Hit-Run Involving Officer’s Car

South Pasadena police said Tuesday that they were reopening an investigation into the reporting of a year-old hit-and-run crash, after inquiries from The Times about the case, which involved a car registered to a former mayor of the city and now owned by a police officer.

On Sept. 8, 1995, a white Chevrolet Camaro sped through the 300 block of Pasadena Avenue at about 50 mph and hit a parked Honda, according to a South Pasadena police report. Witnesses told police that the car stopped for a moment, then drove off.

The car was registered to Ted Shaw, a former South Pasadena mayor, according to the police report. The report, signed by Police Sgt. Jeremy Kitabjian, lists the driver as unknown.

In an interview Tuesday, Shaw said that the car had been sold days before the crash and that the registration change evidently had not reached police computers. At first he said he did not handle the sale and could not recall who bought the car. But he later acknowledged that he gave it to his daughter and his son-in-law, Scott Ziegler, a South Pasadena police officer.

Marisa Lynn Colatriano, the Honda’s owner, said that a man who identified himself as Ziegler called her Monday night and said he owned the Camaro. He offered to pay $550 for the car’s damage, she said.

“I said ‘I’m sorry, it’s too late,’ ” Colatriano said. “ ‘I can’t believe you’ve waited 11 months.’ ” Colatriano said police repeatedly had told her that the investigation was proceeding and that they did not know who owned or drove the Camaro.

South Pasadena Police Chief Thomas Mahoney said the case is being reinvestigated but would not comment further.

Kitabjian resigned earlier this year after an investigation of his relationship with a woman who claimed to have had sex with him while he was on duty. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Ziegler did not return telephone calls to his home or workplace.