The Bakersfield Californian

BPD: Police looking for man, 19, wanted for killing; 4 teens arrested

The Bakersfield Police Department is looking for a Bakersfield man in connection to a shooting that left a woman dead and two others injured.

Police officers arrested four teenagers in connection with the July shooting, and are looking to apprehend suspect Demarko Hegwood, 19. Hegwood is a Black man around 5 foot, 6 inches and weighs 130 pounds.

The shooting in the 1000 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard killed Susana Ortiz and left another woman severely injured. Another teenager was also shot and suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, police said in a news release.

Area residents with information about Haywood may call the BPD at 661-327-7111.

The pre-preliminary hearing for the former Fairfax School District Board of Trustees

president was postponed Monday until next year.

Palmer Moland is charged with seven felonies related to embezzlement, conflict of interest charges and filing false candidacy papers to run for office.

Controversy hounded Moland after he was elected in 2018 regarding several matters, including an effort to recall him and other board members. Constituents’ complaints made up the basis of the DA’s charges. Prosecutors accused him of living outside the district when he was elected, and a conflict of interest charge related to hiring a law firm to squash a censure motion against him, according to previous reporting.

Moland’s pre-preliminary hearing was postponed until Jan. 30, according to the DA’s office. A pre-preliminary hearing determines if attorneys are ready to proceed to a preliminary hearing, which is a hearing to determine what charges, if any, Moland could face at trial.

Moland is no longer in custody after Court Commissioner Roger H. Ponce removed his bail at his arraignment in September. Ponce ordered Moland to enter into a pretrial monitoring program in lieu of bail.

A motorcyclist died Sunday after colliding into a semitruck, according to a Monday

news release from the California Highway patrol.

For unknown reasons, a Santa Maria man, 34, riding a 2014 Yamaha motorcycle went into the direct path of Terence Patt, a semi truck driver at Bear Mountain Boulevard near South Edison Road, the news release said.

The motorcyclist, who has not been identified, was going west on Bear Mountain Boulevard and was approaching slow traffic at the intersection at South Edison Road.

Dallas man Patt was also going west on Bear Mountain Boulevard and made a left turn onto southbound South Edison Road. The motorcyclist passed traffic and collided into Patt, the news release added.

He died at the scene, the news release noted. The involvement of alcohol or drugs in the crash is still under investigation, the CHP said.

Anyone with information about this incident can call the Bakersfield CHP office at 661-396-6600.

A woman was arrested in the shooting death of her boyfriend that happened

during a domestic violence incident, the Ridgecrest Police Department reported in a social media post released Monday.

Police officers went to the 600 block of E. Wilson Avenue on Sunday after getting reports of a man with a gunshot wound. They found Joseph Loza Jr. with a gunshot wound to the head and he died at the scene, according to the police department.

An investigation showed Loza and his girlfriend Renee Molina, 23, were involved in a “domestic violence altercation” and Molina shot him, the police department added.

Molina was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder.

The Kern County District Attorney’s Office will host a grand opening of the South Kern

Family Justice Center located in the Lamont courthouse on Wednesday.

The Family Justice Center provides victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and human trafficking with counseling, economic and housing help. Other resources include getting in contact with law enforcement, restraining orders, immigration help and more, according to a news release from DA Cynthia Zimmer.

The center is intended to house myriad services all under one roof for easy access. It is located in the Lamont courthouse, 12022 Main St.

A ceremony will begin at 1 p.m.

This location is the second in Kern County. A Family Justice Center is also located on Oak Street, and was first opened in 2018 by former Kern County District Attorney Lisa Green.

The California Highway Patrol will host a class for current teenage drivers and their

parents or guardians about safe driving habits.

The free, two-hour class is open to prospective drivers as well who will learn about safe driving habits, consequences of poor choices in vehicles and how to avoid crashing.

It will happen at the CHP Bakersfield Office at 6 p.m. Dec. 13 at 9855 Compagnoni St.

Space is limited, so call 661-396-6600 to reserve a spot.

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2022-12-06T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-06T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://bakersfield.pressreader.com/article/281556589857935

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