A 23-year-old man suspected of stabbing a woman and her dog to death Thursday in San Dimas was identified by authorities Friday.
Ricardo Saldivar, of Upland, was booked on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
Around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, deputies responded to the area of Lone Hill Park on the 1400 block of Renwick Road, after receiving a call about an assault with a deadly weapon and a woman screaming.
They arrived to find a woman in her 60s lying unresponsive in the street with what appeared to be multiple stab wounds, the department said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A dog that was lying next to her was also stabbed and killed, officials said.
Investigators say another person was targeted by the same assailant before the woman and dog were attacked. A man — identified to KTLA by his family members as 31-year-old Joe Cohen — had parked his car and was walking toward the public restroom at the park when he say a man wielding a knife walking towards him.
Cohen ran away and got into his car, his family members told KTLA at the scene of the incident Thursday. He then saw the man, later identified as Saldivar, walk towards the female victim and stab her and her dog, they said.
Cohen got out of his car and tried to stop the killing by knocking the suspect unconscious with a rock.
The Sheriff’s Department responded and took Saldivar into custody and transported him to a local hospital, where he received medical treatment for a head injury. After receiving medical clearance, he was booked on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, the department said.
A knife was recovered at the scene.
Saldivar remains in custody on $2 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on March 30.
A motive for the stabbing was not yet known.
The Sheriff’s Department is not releasing the names of the deceased to respect the wishes of the victim’s family.
