The owner of a stolen semi-truck that led officers on a pursuit before bursting into flames is devastated after being left without a job or a way to support his family. The victim, Edward Guardado, was driving from Los Angeles back to his home in Bakersfield when he decided to make a pit stop and fill up his truck at a gas station. The container his truck was carrying was empty at the time. At the pit stop near 9500 South Union Avenue in Bakersfield, he entered a restaurant where two men had been watching him.   “They saw that he had his back turned away and was not looking so they t ..read more

The federal government on Tuesday began awarding billions in funds to passenger rail projects across the country, including earmarking more than $6 billion for two ambitious projects currently underway in California. The California High-Speed Rail Authority was awarded a historic $3.07 billion in grant funding from the Biden Administration for its state-spanning rail system, while Brightline West was chosen to receive around $3 billion for its SoCal-to-Las Vegas bullet train. Both projects aim to transport passengers to their destination at high speeds from the comfort of electric-powered trai ..read more

A group of robbery suspects were caught after a high-speed chase through Los Angeles County on Friday night. Four suspects were inside the vehicle when the pursuit began in Bakersfield. Officers continued following the suspects into L.A. County, according to California Highway Patrol. Bakersfield Police said the group reportedly robbed a victim at gunpoint at the Valley Plaza shopping mall in Bakersfield around 6:24 p.m. The suspects were seen driving erratically through narrow roads and busy intersections while hitting speeds of up to 100 miles per hour as they arrived in the L.A. area. At on ..read more

A woman with three prior DUI convictions was arrested after she allegedly drove drunk and refused to leave the drive-thru of a southwest Bakersfield Taco Bell, according to a court filing. Demetra Bailey, 39, has pleaded not guilty to two felony DUI charges, resisting arrest and driving while her license was suspended or revoked for driving under the influence, according to court records. She's due back in court June 16, KTLA sister station KGET reports. UFC fighter Tony Ferguson arrested for DUI in Hollywood after multi-car crash On Jan. 4, police were called to the Taco Bell at 6619 Pan ..read more

A Bakersfield man is facing federal charges after allegedly making threatening phone calls last year, including to a Planned Parenthood the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, officials announced Thursday. Nishith Tharaka Vandebona, 34, was living in Camarillo during the alleged offenses. He was charged with three misdemeanor counts of threatened forcible intimidation regarding the obtaining and provision of reproductive health services under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, otherwise known as the FACE Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was also ch ..read more

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s political troubles don’t stop at the Washington Beltway. In his Central California hometown of Bakersfield — where oil derricks blanket hillsides and country music fans flock to Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace hall — some voters are asking if what has become an embarrassing bid to succeed Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came at the expense of the twin engines of the local economy — oil production and agriculture. McCarthy hails from a conservative, inland region of California far from the liberal strongholds of San Francisco ..read more

A lengthy investigation involving multiple agencies culminated with the arrests of 29 people -- including a woman allegedly affiliated with the Mexican Mafia and a suspected Nazi sympathizer -- on charges including drug trafficking, conspiracy and firearm offenses, authorities said. More than 15,000 suspected fentanyl pills, 990 grams of fentanyl, 10 pounds of methamphetamine, 7 pounds of heroin, 112 pounds of marijuana, 13 guns and $60,000 in cash were seized during Thursday's operation targeting criminal street gangs in Bakersfield, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eas ..read more

WattEV electric vehicle company broke ground on the nation's first electric truck charging station Thursday in Bakersfield. The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the location of the truck stop, on Highway 65 just north of Meadows Field Airport. The 110 acre truck stop features a solar micro-grid with battery storage, plus regular power from PG&E. The Los Angeles-based company said Bakersfield was the perfect spot to kick off this project. "When you look at the whole I-5 corridor and what's going on, this was the perfect place to start," said Salim Youssefzadeh, a spokesperson for the com ..read more

A man being described as a serial rapist has been charged with 14 counts, including attempted murder, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday. Jose Manuel Garcia, 36, was charged with physically and/or sexually assaulting six women in the Coachella Valley area from September 2020 to August 2021, officials said. Three victims were allegedly strangled to unconsciousness and in two incidents, the victims were struck by Garcia’s pickup. In one of those incidents, the victim suffered a broken leg and was “left injured in a ditch in Thermal for two-and-a-half days” before sh ..read more

The California National Guard has dispatched medical teams to three beleaguered hospitals in Northern California and the Central Valley, where exhausted healthcare workers are weathering another surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Teams of 16 people have been deployed to assist healthcare staffs at Memorial Hospital and Mercy Hospital Southwest in Bakersfield and Mercy Medical Center Redding, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma, a California National Guard spokesman. Another Bakersfield hospital, Adventist Health, has requested help from the National Guard, and a 14-person team is expected to arriv ..read more