Kern DA: Charges Against Salas Unfounded

The Kern County District Attorney’s Office says a complaint filed against a candidate for county supervisor is unfounded. The DA’s office said Friday allegations of misconduct against Kimberly Salas are baseless. District 5 supervisor Leticia Perez’s chief of staff claims Salas was engaging in campaign-related communications during an event last week for her race against…Read More

Changes to Delano Cop Car Take-Home Policy

Delano cops who live fifty miles from police headquarters can now take their patrol cars home with them. The city council has decided to adjust the distance from eight miles to fifty miles to allow for greater response times for police officers. Critics say it does no good for policing in the city of Delano…Read More

Kern Coroner IDs Man Who Died Trimming Palm Tree

We’ve learned the name of a man who died as he trimmed a palm tree in east Bakersfield. On October 17, Kern County Firefighters found Fermin Leiva, 55, unconscious trapped beneath a heavy load of palm fronds at a house in the 800 block of Plaza Street. Rescuers say he’d been unresponsive for about thirty…Read More

Kern County Prisoner Denied Parole

The California Parole Board has denied release of a Kern County prison inmate convicted of murder and several violent crimes. James Flores, 48, was found guilty of killing Jadesun Reyes on March 18, 2000, and assault with a deadly weapon on another victim in Los Angeles County. Flores stabbed a corrections officer in November 2000…Read More

Ridgecrest Teenager Dies in Car Accident

Ridgecrest Police are investigating after the death of a teenager struck by a car. It happened early Saturday morning in the 400 block of West Las Flores Avenue where a girl, 15, was found unresponsive. First responders couldn’t save her. Police think the incident was an accident and not intentional. Anyone with information is urged…Read More

Elderly Bakersfield Man Struck By Pickup Identified

The Kern County Coroner’s Office has identified a man who was hit and killed by a vehicle in south Bakersfield. Fernando Espinosa, 84, of Bakersfield, was walking on Potomac Avenue at South King Street near Union Cemetery when he was struck by a pickup on October 16. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police…Read More

Two Arrested After Bakersfield CHP Discover Alleged Chop Shop

Two people have been apprehended after California Highway Patrol officers found stolen cars in Bakersfield. The CHP’s Kern County Auto Theft Task Force reports finding two stolen vehicles and several dismantled cars after receiving information online about someone trying to sell parts from an alleged stolen car. That information led officers to a house in…Read More

Bakersfield Gang Member Found Guilty of Killing Child

Guilty of murder. That’s the decision of a jury in the case of a gang member accused of gunning down a young Bakersfield boy. Jonathan Knight was convicted Monday on eleven counts of murder in the shooting death of Kayson Guyton, 5, who was inadvertently shot and killed during a car-to-car shooting between rival gang…Read More

Kern Coroner Identifies Woman Killed in Crash Involving Police Cruiser

The Kern County coroner has released the name of a woman killed in a crash involving a Bakersfield Police cruiser in east Bakersfield. Krystal Reynaga, 26, of Wasco was a passenger in a car that collided with a cop car at Kern and Niles Streets on October 13th. She died at Kern Medical. Jeremiah Hernandez,…Read More

County Supervisor Accused of Violating County Code

A Kern County Supervisor has been accused of using county resources for her own political interests. But 5th District supervisor Leticia Perez told fellow supervisors Monday she feels she’s being unfairly targeted by the District Attorney’s office after a community member made allegations that a Perez staff member violated county code by holding political meetings…Read More