Man faces assault with a deadly weapon charge after ordering his dogs to attack.
Dog Owner Faces Charges
Oakland, CA - A man with a lengthy criminal history spanning from at least San Francisco to Fresno is now facing four felony charges after his two vicious dogs attacked police officers and security guards in a 24 hour period. Rafael Rivas, a 38-year old resident of Oakland, has been charged with three counts of failure to control a dangerous animal after his dogs inflicted multiple damaging bites and one count of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly commanding his dogs to attack a security guard.
The chain of events began on January 13 outside the Grocery Outlet in the 2900 block of Broadway in Oakland. This is where Rivas allegedly ordered his dogs to attack security guards on the premises. "They allegedly singled out one security officer and bit him repeatedly, requiring 'emergency medical attention' for puncture wounds to his finger and leg, police said in court records," reports the Mercury News. The next attack occurred the following day after Rivas was detained by Oakland police officers.
While Rivas was handcuffed in the back of an Oakland Police Department squad car, his two vicious dogs broke free of their restraints and attacked police officers. It is unknown how his dogs were being restrained at the time. During this incident, Rivas had no way to physically stop his dogs. Officer Vern Saechao sustained a bite wound to his arm and Sgt. Colin Cameron sustained a bite wound to his leg. Both officers required emergency medical attention and stitches, reports the Mercury News.
Police did not disclose the breed of dogs involved or their disposition. Since the dogs are part of all four felonies, it's safe to assume they are being held alive as evidence. As for the breed-type, one can imagine a mastiff-pit bull (combat dog) variant. Ever since Diane Whipple was killed by two presa canarios in an upscale San Francisco apartment in 2001, the popularity of these mastiff cross-breeds exploded in California. The caretaker of the two presa canarios, Marjorie Knoller, is still in prison.
According to crime scraper sites (websites that scrape crime data from city and county databases), Rivas has a criminal history dating back to 2019 in at least five California counties, including grand theft, domestic violence, acts of indecent exposure, threats of violence, petty theft and trespassing. The Alameda Superior Court portal site shows that Rivas was charged with four felonies under the dog attack statute on January 16. He was also charged with 14 sentencing enhancement felonies.
On January 17, Rivas pled not guilty to the dog attack charges and denied all of the enhancements. In Alameda County, Rivas has active/pending cases involving a misdemeanor "criminal threats" (filed in April 2024) and misdemeanor "engaging in lewd conduct" (filed in April 2023). He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and one year probation for the latter charge. But that probation was revoked halfway through. Now, he faces multiple felonies after his dogs attacked multiple public safety officers.
Alameda County is the same county where prosecutors charged the owner of three cane corso-Neapolitan mastiff mixes (combat dogs) with a felony after his dogs killed Robert Holguin in September. Brendan Burke was charged with a felony under the California statute for failing to secure his dogs resulting in death. At the time, Holguin was homeless and living out of his car on Burke's property, who was his friend. He died at the scene. Burke was also a backyard breeder of these dogs.
Criminal Charges
We don't see assault with a deadly weapon charge often because proving it requires video or a reliable witness. Many of these attacks only involve the dog owner, the dog(s) and the victim. In the cases we often write about, the victim died, so there is no witness to testify the owner "ordered" his dog to attack. We see deadly weapon charges the most when the dog attacks police officers. The evidence showing intent may be the officer's body-worn camera or an officer who was at the scene.
The deadly weapon charge escalates when it is carried out against a peace officer or firefighter. But in this case the charge regards a security officer. Of the 14 sentencing enhancements, six involve aggravating circumstances of the "crime involved great violence, great bodily harm" or the "defendant was armed with or used a weapon." The other charges fall under the state's felony dog attack law, which applies to attacks resulting in serious bodily injury or death. Both can result in a felony.
(4) “Serious bodily injury” means a serious impairment of physical condition, including, but not limited to, the following: loss of consciousness; concussion; bone fracture; protracted loss or impairment of function of any bodily member or organ; a wound requiring extensive suturing; and serious disfigurement.
Escalating Crimes
It's not unusual for repeat offenders of crimes like domestic violence, soliciting lewd acts and threats of violence to escalate to more serious ones.1 Though, one might not expect they would lead to felony dog attack or deadly weapon by dog charges (due to this area having limited research). The bite victims in this case are also public safety officers. If one is ordering his or her dogs to attack a security guard, what's next? And how vicious are these dogs if police could not even restrain them initially?
Lastly, the irritation with the deadly weapon charges is a presumption that Rivas trained his dogs to attack. Maybe he did. But the majority of dog owners cannot even teach the "Stay" command. There have been countless serious and fatal attacks involving pit bulls when the owner has a heated argument with a household member, and the dog suddenly launches a frenzied attack on whoever is closest to it, usually a family member. That's not training. That's a lightning speed arousal threshold.
Related articles:
09/05/24: 2024 Dog Bite Fatality: Owner Charged with Felony After His 'Mastiff Breeds' Kill Man
05/09/22: 2020 Dog Bite Fatality: Man Dies After Pit Bull Mauling; Owner Charged with Murder
It’s time to put the dogs down and the owner in jail.
He should be banned from owning dogs for life, under threat of more jail.
If they don’t return his dogs, he will have more in a number of hours. He broke the law. There probably isn’t enough that he’s done to sentence him to life in prison. Thus, he will continue breaking the law. No
And he won’t be replacing them with poodles, golden retrievers or pugs that most likely won’t get him in trouble with the law again.
Any case where they need to hold attacking dogs for evidence I don’t understand why they can’t store them in the freezer after they have been euthanized.
Shame the cops didn’t shoot the dogs while they were attacking.