Inset left: Kenneth Dobbins (Los Angeles County Sheriff"s Department). Inset right: Fernando Torres Moreno (GoFundMe). Background: Central Park Lake in California City, Calif. (Google Maps).
A California man is behind bars after his dogs chased a boy into a lake where he drowned, Golden State police say.
Kenneth Dobbins, 68, stands accused of involuntary manslaughter and negligent ownership in connection with the death of 12-year-old Fernando Torres Moreno, according to the California City Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The incident occurred on June 18 at Central Park Lake in California City, a small city some 100 miles north of Los Angeles.
Police were called to the urban lake just after 6 p.m. in response to a drowning in progress.
"The comments in the call stated that a 12-year-old male had jumped into the lake running from dogs and did not come up," according to a statement issued by local law enforcement.
Now, authorities allege the defendant's three dogs chased the boy into the water and that when Dobbins went to retrieve his pets, he did not intervene to try to save the boy's life.
Instead, the man walked away, calling for his dogs to follow, police said.
Fernando was found "at the bottom of the lake," according to the police department. Officers got the boy's body to the surface and began performing CPR within six minutes of arriving, police said in a warrant obtained by Bakersfield-based ABC affiliate KERO.
The victim was then rushed to Adventist Health in Tehachapi before being transported to Children's Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries, according to law enforcement.
The victim was remembered lovingly in a GoFundMe for funeral expenses.
"Fernando was a bright, loving boy who brought joy to everyone around him," the online fundraiser reads. "He loved spending time outdoors, playing with his siblings, and making new friends. His laughter and kindness touched the lives of many, and his absence leaves a hole in the hearts of his family and community."
Police also say the man's dogs attacked Fernando's 8-year-old sister after the animals were back on land, leaving her with serious bite wounds.
"The female juvenile was transported to Antelope Valley Hospital, where she was treated for her injuries and released," police said.
At the lake, officers accompanied Dobbins back to his residence, where they photographed the defendant and his dogs, but he was not yet arrested because the boy had not yet died, authorities said.
Dobbins allegedly talked to investigators the next day and said he had taken his dogs to the park and there had been an incident involving children, while denying the dogs were vicious, according to the warrant.
Over the next few days, however, officers identified Dobbins' "three dogs as those that attacked the two juveniles, causing the death of one and serious bodily injury to the other," police said.
Late last week, Los Angeles County deputies located Dobbins in Lancaster and returned him to Kern County, authorities said.
The defendant was due to appear in court on Monday, but reportedly refused to attend his arraignment, according to KERO.
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