Woman and dog stabbed to death near San Dimas park

A woman and her dog were stabbed to death in a brazen, seemingly random attack at a park in San Dimas on Thursday afternoon, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

About 1:30 p.m., a caller told deputies that a screaming woman was being stabbed near Lone Hill Park in San Dimas, which is patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department.

When deputies arrived in the 1400 block of West Renwick Road, they found a woman in her 60s lying in the street with a dog beside her, the department said in a statement. Both the woman and the dog were dead.

Her assailant had initially targeted someone else, a man who had been walking through the park to use its restrooms, authorities said. He saw a man walking toward him, holding a knife, and he turned and ran.

The suspect gave chase but then turned his attention to a woman who was walking her dog, according to the Sheriff’s Department. A complete description of the suspect and victim were not available, nor were their names.

The assailant grabbed the dog’s leash, pulled it from the woman’s grasp and began stabbing first the dog and then the woman, the department said. As the suspect was stabbing her, the man he’d initially chased returned with a rock and struck the suspect in the head, knocking him unconscious, according to the department.

The suspect was taken to a hospital and is being evaluated for head injuries. Once cleared, he will be booked at the San Dimas sheriff’s station on suspicion of murder, the department said.

Detectives recovered a knife at the scene, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Department officials asked anyone with information about the killing to call homicide detectives at (323) 890-5500.