NORWALK — An investigation was underway today after an 86-year-old man attacked by two Rottweiler dogs while on a walk in a Norwalk neighborhood died in a hospital.
The man was walking about 6:45 a.m. Saturday in a neighborhood on 166th Street at Graystone Avenue when the two dogs attacked him, causing severe bleeding from an artery in his left arm, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide Lieutenant Steve DeJong told City News Service. The dogs were unleashed.
Two passersby fought off the dogs and tried to render aid to the injured man, DeJong said. Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics rushed him to a hospital, where he underwent surgery.
The man died Sunday morning, the lieutenant said.
The owner of the dogs cooperated with sheriff’s deputies at the scene, telling them the dogs got out and he was looking for them, DeJong said. The man took the dogs home but the lieutenant said they would likely be placed in the custody of Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control and quarantined.
While the death investigation was already underway, DeJong said he was looking to the Medical Examiner to confirm the cause of the man’s death.