BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — According to court staff, though Kenneth Dobbins was scheduled to be in court on Monday, he refused to attend his arraignment hearing, and it was pushed to Tuesday. Court staff noted that the Commissioner presiding over Monday's hearing authorized to use reasonable force in an attempt to ensure Dobbins appears in court on Tuesday.
(Original Story posted on June 29th at 12:35 p.m.)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — With Kenneth Dobbins slated to be in court on Monday, 23ABC obtained multiple search warrants filed by the California City Police Department as they sought his arrest.
According to a search warrant filed for Dobbins’ address in California City, Dobbins’ three dogs chased 12-year-old Fernando Torres Moreno into the waters of Central Park Lake, and Torres Moreno began to struggle to stay above water.
In the midst of that, California City Police allege that Dobbins went into the water to retrieve the dogs, but did not attempt to help Torres Moreno, walking away while calling his dogs to follow him.
When police arrived on scene, they were able to pull Torres Moreno’s body from the lake to begin life-saving procedures, though the child died a day later in a Tehachapi hospital.
According to the warrant, after Dobbins’ dogs were pulled from the water, the dogs allegedly attacked Torres Moreno’s 8-year-old sister, leaving her with serious bites.
As police arrived at the scene to assist Torres Moreno, a California City police officer alleges he was chased and surrounded by the dogs and called Dobbins to gain control of them before Dobbins left the scene.
The officer at the scene noted he recognized the dogs and the owner from a previous call he assisted with earlier in the week.
The officer contacted Dobbins a day after the incident, the report alleges that Dobbins told officers he was at the park with his dogs and there was an encounter with some children, but denied they were vicious.
After police gathered more information identifying Dobbins as the suspect in the alleged attack, officers returned to Dobbins’ home in California City. Dobbins’ girlfriend told officers she dropped him at a homeless shelter in Palmdale.
By the time authorities responded to the shelter, Dobbins had left the scene with two of the three dogs.
According to a California City Police report, Dobbins was located and arrested by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies in Lancaster on Thursday and transported back to Kern County, where he is slated to be in court this week.
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