CALIFORNIA -- A Santa Rosa ex-convict is facing a return to prison after prosecutors said his pit bull with a history of violence attacked a 89-year-old neighbor, mauling his leg.
Armando Flores, 47, was arrested on a felony charge of allowing a vicious animal to be at-large in the Monday attack on Marlow Road near Yuma Street.
The victim, William Siemsen, who turned 90 on Tuesday, suffered deep lacerations and was treated and released from Kaiser Permanente, said his grandson, Patrick Siemsen of Citrus Heights.
“He ended up with a couple of good gashes,” the grandson said. “They cut clear down to the bone.”
The elderly man was in his driveway Monday afternoon with his own dog, a black lab named Luna, when Flores's dog broke its leash and came running at them, the grandson said.
First the pit bull lunged at the lab, biting its rear end. It turned on Siemsen when he reached over to hit it with his cane, his grandson said.
Flores was able to regain control of his dog and stop the attack, said Sonoma County sheriff's Lt. Dennis O'Leary.
But not before the man and his much smaller dog were injured. Siemsen was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. His dog was checked out by a veterinarian.
“She's pretty swollen but the vet said she'll be fine,” the grandson said.
An off-duty Santa Rosa police officer who happened to be jogging in the area assisted, O'Leary said.
Flores told deputies that his dog, Blue, had a history of aggression, O'Leary said, and that led to the charge. Patrick Siemsen said that history may have included a recent attack near G&G Market on West College Avenue.
(Press Democrat - December 14, 2011)
