Crime
Arrest made in alleged gang killing

Police: Have you seen alleged eyeglass thieves?

Submitted by Cory Smith, Web producer
Friday, January 27th, 2012, 1:39pm
Police: Have you seen alleged eyeglass thieves?

Bakersfield police are looking four people suspected of shoplifting dozens of eyeglass frames from the LensCrafters store across from the Valley Plaza Mall.

The thefts occurred around 11:30 a.m. Jan. 6. Police released surveillance photos of the suspects this week with hopes of identifying and arresting them.

Anyone with information helpful to the investigation is asked to call Detective Pete Cavazos at (661) 326-3561.

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Arrest made in alleged gang killing

Submitted by Cory Smith, Web producer
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012, 1:13pm
Arrest made in alleged gang killing

An arrested has been made in an alleged gang murder.

Joseph Martin Ferguson, 32, turned himself in at police headquarters just after midnight Wednesday after learning of a warrant for his capture.

Ferguson allegedly shot 22-year-old Neal McCree during a fight that broke out at a party Saturday night on the 6000 block of Alberta Street, which is near Panama Lane and South H Street.

Police believe the shooting was gang-related.

Another man, 29-year-old Anthony James, was also shot, but his injuries were minor. Police didn't say if Ferguson is suspected in both shootings.

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Homemade cannon found during shooting investigation

Submitted by Cory Smith, Web producer
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012, 12:58pm

More than a dozen homes were evacuated and neighborhood street was closed for several hours Tuesday during a shooting investigation.

Shots were fired around 3 p.m. into a home on the 1300 block of Clipper Hills Drive, police said. The investigation led officers to on home on nearby Sierra Summit Avenue. The neighborhood is near Hosking Avenue and South H Street on Bakersfield's southern edge. There, officers found several guns, gunpowder and a homemade cannon.

Windell Phillip Martin, 60, was arrested on suspicion of possessing a destructive device and discharging a weapon into an inhabited dwelling.

Police didn't say what motivated the shooting.

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Family wants county to pay for damages from SWAT officers

Submitted by Carol Ferguson on Monday, January 23rd, 5:31 pm

After Kern County Sheriff' SWAT officers stormed their house looking for a suspect with a gun, a Bakersfield  family is still waiting to be paid for damages left by the team. Maria Cortez says she's filed a claim with the county, but she thinks the process to get repaid is just too difficult.

"It's been a month since then, and we haven't seen any help from the county," Cortez told Eyewitness News on Monday. She lives in her grandmother's house on Potomac Avenue with several other relatives. The house was damaged on Dec. 14 when officers searched for suspects in a shooting in the neighborhood off East California Avenue and Washington.

Cortez says it was mid-afternoon, and she was sitting in the living room.

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Drivers crash on rainy Bakersfield highways

Submitted by Cory Smith, Web producer
Monday, January 23rd, 2012, 12:55pm

Drivers in Bakersfield aren't used to rainy weather, and it shows.

Multiple motorists crashed Monday morning as rain mixed with oil on the area's long-dry highways. Other than light rain Saturday morning, the south valley floor hadn't had showers in 61 days.

Weather forecast >>

Advice from the California Highway Patrol: Slow down.

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Father killed in east Bakersfield

Submitted by Cory Smith, Web producer
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012, 8:30pm

Story by Eyewitness News reporter Keisha Courtney

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An east Bakersfield family is mourning the loss of their father following a deadly shooting Saturday night.

Fredric Collins Jr., 33, was shot multiple times outside of his home on the 800 block of Smith Street, which is near Highway 58 and Cottonwood Road.

Collins' girlfriend, Margarita Alvarez, said right before the shooting that Collins went outside for a cigarette.

"I automatically knew it was him, because he didn't come back inside. He would have come back in to check on us if it wasn't him, to see if we were OK, but he didn't," Alvarez said.

She had no idea who wanted to do kill her boyfriend, who was also the father of her three children, ages 3, 2 and 1 month.

"He would talk to everybody. It didn't matter what race. He wasn't gang-affiliated.

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Small explosion shuts down neighborhood

Submitted by Tammy Brown
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012, 4:19pm

A reported explosion early Sunday in the 600 block of El Prado Drive shut down traffic while police and other agencies investigated.

Bakersfield police said evidence of an explosion was found, so the bomb squad was called out. It found signs of chemical residue, so a hazardous materials team was called.

Traffic was shut down to the neighborhood between South H Street and Chester Avenue while the incident was investigated.

No injuries were reported.

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