Tehachapi man arrested in sexual assault of child
Bakersfield police arrested a Tehachapi man Wednesday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child 14 years ago.
Paul Strategos, 44, is alleged to have assaulted a 6-year-old after luring the child to an empty home in northwest Bakersfield in 2007, according to a news release. DNA evidence was obtained at the time but a match wasn’t found in law enforcement databases until recently.
Strategos was arrested in 2020 for being a felon in possession of ammunition, at which time a DNA sample was obtained from him that matched the sample from the incident in 2007, the news release said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the Bakersfield Police Department at 327-7111.
The Bakersfield Police Department will hold a private memorial ceremony Friday for K-9 Jango, who was shot and later died during a police incident in April.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the public can not attend. However, the memorial will be livestreamed on the Bakersfield Police Department and city of Bakersfield websites.
Jango died after he was shot by a vehicle theft suspect in southeast Bakersfield on April 27. The suspect, later identified as Dalton James Gerritt Kooiman, 20, was shot by police returning fire and later died.
According to the BPD account of the incident, officers attempted to stop Kooiman while he was driving a vehicle reported stolen on Highway 58, east of Cottonwood Road.
BPD said Kooiman left the roadway, traveling across an embankment and through a chainlink fence before his vehicle struck a concrete wall.
Kooiman then began to flee on foot, BPD said, but a Kern County Sheriff’s helicopter soon located him.
Body camera footage shows a K-9 officer pursuing Kooiman before releasing Jango. BPD said in the video’s narration Kooiman fired three times before officers returned fire.
The service will be held at the Mechanics Bank Convention Center, 1001 Truxtun Ave. A vehicle procession, from the Bakersfield Police Department to Mechanics Bank Convention Center, will take place from 8:45 to 9 a.m. The memorial begins at 10 a.m.
Police are investigating a shooting that left a man dead at Vagabond Inn, 6501 Colony Street, Tuesday night.
The Bakersfield Police Department said in a news release the shooting happened just before 8 p.m. The victim’s identity has not yet been released and no information was available on a suspect.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Alex Paiz at 326-3519, or the Bakersfield Police Department at 327-7111.
The Bakersfield Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance identifying a driver who allegedly hit a man driving a scooter before driving away.
The incident occurred at around 6:39 p.m. Tuesday, at the intersection of E. California Avenue and S. King Street, according to a BPD news release.
BPD says the man driving the scooter was traveling east on E. California Avenue when a vehicle made a left turn in front of him, causing both to collide in the intersection.
When officers arrived, they found the scooter driver suffering moderate to major injuries in the roadway, the news release stated.
The other vehicle was not found at the scene.
BPD describes the suspect vehicle as a light blue, 2009 to 2012 Nissan Versa hatchback, with four doors, black rims and damage to the bottom of the driver door.
The driver is described in the news release as a Hispanic man with a short fade haircut and black and brown hair.
Anyone with information related to this case is asked to call the BPD Traffic Detail at 326-3967.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man on suspicion of murder, following an incident that occurred Tuesday morning in Ridgecrest.
Daniel Gunnarsson, 20, has been arrested for the suspected homicide, according to a KCSO news release.
Deputies were dispatched to the 900 block of Skylark Avenue just before 11 a.m. where they located a woman suffering from trauma to her body. She was pronounced dead at the scene, the news release stated.
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 861-3110 or
Secret Witness at 322-4040.
A woman was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment Wednesday after a 16-year-old girl was found unresponsive at a Bodfish residence that morning, according to a Kern County Sheriff’s Office news release.
Deputies responded to the 100 block of Pioneer Place in Bodfish around 7 a.m. The teen was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The cause and manner of death will be determined by the coroner’s office.
Deputies subsequently served a search warrant at the residence and located suspected narcotics and drug paraphernalia. Marilyn Elliott, 26, was arrested and booked into Kern County Jail.
Anyone with further information regarding this investigation is urged to contact the Kern County Sheriff’s Office at 861-3110 or Secret Witness at 322-4040.
A 24-year-old man who was killed in a suspected homicide in Wasco earlier this month has been identified by the Kern County coroner’s office.
The incident occurred at 9:20 p.m. May 3 when Jose Aleman was stabbed by another individual in the 800 block of Broadway Street. He was taken to Adventist Health Delano where he died just after midnight the following day.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case as a homicide.