Owners Destroy Vicious Pit Bull, Get Probation

A Tujunga couple who agreed to have their pit bull destroyed rather than face a civil suit were sentenced to two years’ probation Friday for harboring a vicious animal.

Darla and Harry Grizelle were convicted last year of maintaining a public nuisance and letting a vicious animal run loose. The case stemmed from three attacks by the dog, Bruno, including one in which a 75-year-old woman was bitten on the neck and arms.

Van Nuys Municipal Judge Michael J. Farrell said he will lift the probation sentence as soon as the couple pay the medical bills of the elderly woman, Katherine Barnes. The bills are estimated to be $300.

The Grizelles could have been sentenced to a year in jail and fined $1,000 each.

The couple had Bruno destroyed after Deputy City Atty. Nicholas J. Fratianne filed a lawsuit that sought to have the dog killed. Fratianne also was preparing to ask for costly probation conditions such as insurance for the dog and posted signs warning of his presence. The prosecutor settled for the payment to Barnes as long as the dog was destroyed.

“The dog very well could have killed a small child,” Fratianne said.

The Grizelles said outside the courtroom Friday that Bruno’s death was unjust. They had maintained during the trial that Bruno was not involved in the attacks.

Bruno was “a very good family dog,” Darla Grizelle, 31, said. “That dog loved everybody.”

Harry Grizelle, 36, said Bruno’s last trip to the veterinarian was a sad one.

“It was just like taking a little kid,” he said. “He jumped in the truck thinking he was going for a ride.”