After a jogger was mauled to death by a pack of dogs earlier in May, the dogs' owner was arrested Thursday on felony murder charges.
Alex Jackson, 29, also faces charges of owner negligence, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, the Associated Press reported.
Jackson was originally arrested shortly after the May 9 death of Pamela Devitt, 63, who was out for a jog when she was attacked by four pit bulls in Palmdale.
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Jackson was released on bail while DNA testing was conducted to determine if his dogs carried out the attack.
Since January, authorities received at least three other reports of Jackson’s dogs attacking other people, according to Robeson.
Jackson is also charged with several charges related to growing marijuana.
It was unclear whether he had hired an attorney. No number was listed for Jackson in the Palmdale area.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s authorities said a driver saw pit bulls attacking Devitt in the high desert community of Littlerock. The driver called 911 and honked her horn to try to get the dogs to stop.
An arriving deputy saw a single dog still attacking the runner and tried to chase it off, Lt. John Corina said. The dog ran off into the desert, then turned around and attacked the deputy, who took a shot at the animal before it ran off.
Hours later, sheriff’s and animal control officials served a search warrant on Jackson’s home near the site of the attack and took away eight dogs, six pit bulls and two mixed-breeds.
The dogs were kept under quarantine for rabies observation at a Lancaster shelter. Four of the pit bulls seized were believed to have attacked Devitt.
Her husband told KCAL-TV he blamed the dogs’ owners for what happened.
“I do not blame the dogs. I don’t blame pit bulls,” Ben Devitt said. “I blame people who don’t take responsibility for their animals.”
Not all of the dogs are licensed, spayed or neutered as required by county and state law, said Marcia Mayeda, the county’s animal control director.
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