Suspected robbery of boys ends in pursuit to Lebec

Four Bakersfield men were arrested after police said they robbed two kids at Valley Plaza mall and led officers on a pursuit that ended in Lebec.

It started at 6:28 p.m. Friday when Bakersfield police officers went to the 2700 block of Ming Avenue and learned two boys were walking outside the mall and were approached by men wearing ski masks who took jewelry from them after brandishing a gun, according to a BPD news release.

Officers found the suspects’ vehicle about 20 minutes later in the 4900 block of Stine Road and attempted to stop it. But the driver didn’t pull over and led police on a chase through east Bakersfield, the news release added.

The suspects drove onto Highway 99 and then Interstate 5, where the California Highway Patrol took over, BPD wrote. The car was eventually abandoned near Sloan Canyon Road at Nares Drive in Lebec, police added.

The items reportedly stolen from the boys were found after the suspects dropped them on the road from the vehicle, according to the news release.

Manjot Rangi, 20, Jay’Vontae Thompson, 18, Deqwon Thomas, 20, and Damien Diaz, 25, were arrested on suspicion of gang participation, robbery, willful cruelty to a child, resisting arrest and weapons violations, BPD wrote.

A Bakersfield man was sentenced to four years and six months in federal prison

Tuesday after he collected 100 pieces of stolen mail that included 200 checks totaling more than $100,000 and 27 debit cards, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

Christopher Smith, 36, got the mail from March 2020 to July 2020 and then altered and forged checks. He also stole debit cards to deposit checks into victims’ bank accounts and then make cash withdrawals, federal prosecutors said.

Smith was a previously convicted felon who unlawfully owned a 12-gauge shotgun, a news release said.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that killed one pedestrian

Saturday on North Chester Avenue.

A preliminary investigation shows a Bakersfield man was driving on North Chester, south of East Warren Avenue when the victim walked outside of a crosswalk and into the path of the Bakersfield man’s Chevrolet SUV, CHP reported.

The driver couldn’t swerve away from the man and hit the pedestrian, who died at the scene, the CHP wrote. The motorist called law enforcement as he hit the victim and stayed on the scene while investigators arrived.

Alcohol or drugs didn’t factor into the crash, CHP wrote. However, officers are still investigating.

No arrests were made Saturday in this case.

The California Highway Patrol announced Tuesday 28 drivers were arrested on suspi

cion of driving under the influence and there were 277 citations issued over the Memorial Day weekend.

Out of the 277 citations issued, 233 people were cited for speeding, according to the CHP. There were 21 people who received citations for distracted driving, 17 people who got one for not wearing a seatbelt and 16 people for other violations, according to CHP.

There were 41 vehicles that were impounded, and five arrests that weren’t related to a DUI, CHP said.

The maximum enforcement period lasted from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday.

The Kern County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday a jury found a man

guilty of sexually assaulting a girl for about eight years, with the abuse starting when the victim was 6 years old.

Frank Rankin was a close family friend and intermittent roommate of the victim’s mother. The abuse started in 2012 and continued until July 2020, when the girl’s mother found video of the sex acts on Rankin’s phone, a news release said.

The video was given to law enforcement, which began an investigation and uncovered evidence of the sexual abuse stretching back years.

Sentencing is set for June 26. Rankin was found guilty of five charges related to sex acts on Thursday.

A 19-year-old Bakersfield man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of distributing child

pornography.

Bakersfield Police Department officers executed a search warrant in the 6100 block of Prescott Forest Court at 7 a.m. and arrested Austin Brodsly.

Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call BPD at 661-327-7111.