Glendora police say 67-year old Milford Fonza was out for his regular morning walk around 4 a.m., when two dogs attacked him in the 1600 block of Sunflower Avenue.
The former Compton fire chief tried to fight the dogs off with his wooden walking stick, but the stick broke in half.
Glendora police officer Matt Fenner was on routine patrol when he came upon Fonza while he was being attacked.
Fonza told the officer that he was "running out of gas," and his legs began to give out.
He said he wouldn't have been able to fight off the two dogs much longer.
He stated the two dogs were "relentless," and he believed the two dogs were going to kill him.
When officer Fenner arrived, Fonza was trying to pull himself up over a wall in attempt to escape, but the dogs pulled him back down off the wall.
As officer Fenner drove up, one of the dogs circled around out into the street to attack the man again.
That's when Fenner intentionally hit the dog with his police car in attempt to stop the attack, Glendora police officials said.
Officer Fenner called for emergency assistance from other Glendora police officers, and then stepped from his police car to try to help the man, who was still being attacked by the first dog.
The man was screaming, "Help. Help me," and Officer Fenner could see the man was bleeding profusely.
The dog advanced toward Officer Fenner, and that's when he drew his handgun and fired, striking the dog.
The dog died. The sound of gunshots caused the other dog that was struck by the police car to limp away.
A second arriving Glendora police officer followed the injured dog to a nearby elementary school yard where it was contained until animal control officers could respond.
A Glendora Animal Control officer responded and tranquilized the injured dog.
The injured dog was transported to a 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic where it later died.
The two dogs were not wearing any tags, and Glendora Animal Control officers are trying to identify and locate the owner.
The Fonza was transported by ambulance to a local hospital and was treated for puncture wounds to his face, arms, torso, legs and groin.
He also suffered a possible separated or broken shoulder when the two dogs pulled him off the wall.
(KTLA - October 10, 2011)
