A 68-year-old Antelope Valley man is behind bars after authorities say his dogs triggered a chain of events that ended in the drowning death of a 12-year-old boy at a California park.
Kenneth Dobbins was arrested Thursday in Lancaster by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies after a tip from a civilian who spotted him walking near a workplace and alerted police.
Deputies quickly moved in and took him into custody.
The arrest comes in connection with a June 18 tragedy at a park in California City, a Kern County community about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, where 12-year-old Fernando Torres Moreno died after trying to escape a dog attack.
According to authorities, the incident unfolded around 6 p.m. when dogs linked to Dobbins began chasing the boy.
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One account says two off-leash dogs pursued Fernando, forcing him into a lake as he tried to get away.
Emergency responders with the California City Police Department arrived to find the boy submerged in the lake.
Officers pulled him from the water and performed CPR at the scene before paramedics rushed him to a hospital in Tehachapi Valley.
He was later transferred to Children’s Hospital in Bakersfield, where he ultimately died from his injuries, according to reports cited by the Los Angeles Times.
Dobbins faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and negligent ownership of a mischievous animal.
His first court hearing is pending.
