Charges pursued in fatal dog mauling

  The Imperial County Sheriff's Office said it plans to pursue charges against the owner of the pack of dogs that fatally mauled a Winterhaven man late last month.

  Sgt. Scott Sheppeard said his office is sending a report of its investigation into the death of Gordon Lykins to the Imperial County District Attorney's Office in El Centro Friday.

  "Although the investigation has not concluded, at this point we feel we have enough information that we want the district attorney to move forward with pressing charges," Sheppeard said. "We expect charges could be filed as soon as sometime next week."

  Sheppeard said the charges being sought pertain to the owner maintaining a public nuisance and not properly securing the dogs.

  "The charges may sound minor, but the criminal code is very severe," Sheppeard said.

  He said it will be up the district attorney's office to decide if any additional, more serious charges are warranted.

  Lykins, 48, was attacked on March 28 about a half-mile south of White Road in the Bard area. He was found in a drainage ditch in the 1700 block of Ross Road, which is about five miles northeast of Winterhaven.

  The ditch where he was found lies between Imperial County and the Quechan Indian Reservation, from where the dogs are believed to have come.

  Lykins died April 10 at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in Phoenix, where he was taken after the attack.

  Sheppeard said Lykins suffered multiple dog bites all over his body and eventually had to have both legs and one arm amputated.

  Investigators are still uncertain what provoked the dogs to attack Lykins, who was found by the dogs' owner. Sheppeard declined to release the name of the dogs' owner because no charges have been filed in the case yet.

  Lykins, a handyman by trade, lived in a recreational vehicle near the All American Canal, about a mile away from where the mauling took place, according to Sheppeard.

  Eleven dogs were removed from a residence near where the mauling took place and taken to an El Centro animal control shelter. The dogs, of mixed breeds, were believed to have been loose at the time of the attack.

  "The dogs aren't that big," Sheppeard said. "They are midsize and range in weight from about 30 to 50 pounds."

  The dogs will remain at the animal shelter until the case is resolved, Sheppeard said. If they are determined to be the dogs that attacked and killed Lykins, they could be euthanized.

  "They are on death row," Sheppeard said. "The owner has already relinquished any desire to get them back. I don't know if he would have gotten them back anyway.

  The number of dogs being held has since increased to 22 because two of the dogs have had litters of puppies while at the shelter.

  Deputies from ICSO responded to the scene at about 6:45 p.m. after the unidentified owner of the dogs found the severely injured Lykins and called in a report.

  Sheppeard said the Winterhaven Fire Department had initially received a call of a traffic accident in the area, but found Lykins when they arrived.

  Based on statements from two individuals who saw Lykins before the attack, the sheriff's office believes he was on a drainage canal road sometime between 2 and 6 p.m. when he was attacked.

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James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.