CHP seeks medical records of BPD officers, civilian in crash that killed 1

A California Highway Patrol officer seeking to establish a criminal charge in connection to a fatal crash involving a Bakersfield Police Department patrol vehicle and a civilian car filed a search warrant in Kern County Superior Court to request the medical records of people injured in the crash.

Officers Travione Cobbins, 24, and Ricardo Robles, 23, were presumably driving Jan. 19 to help other officers apprehend a suspected car thief when they approached the intersection of South Vineland Drive and Muller Road. The patrol car — a 2016 Ford Taurus — and a Honda Accord driven by Mario Lares, 31, with passenger Ana Hernandez, 34, collided in the intersection. Lares died.

The CHP officer was seeking the medical records stored at Kern Medical for Cobbins, Robles and Hernandez, according to the search warrant filed in Kern County Superior Court. Cobbins was listed in the search warrant as Travione Maleek Cobbins Sherrill.

“I believe there is probable cause to issue a search warrant for the medical records” to establish that the felony of penal code “gross vehicular manslaughter was committed by the driver of the 2016 Ford Taurus,” CHP Officer Gustavo Garcia wrote in the search warrant.

The officer retrieved medical documents for Cobbins and Hernandez, the search warrant noted.

Cobbins and Robles were heading south toward the intersection “at a high rate of speed” and Lares was driving west in a Honda Accord going at an unknown speed, according to The Californian’s previous reporting. There is a stop sign for motorists traveling north and south, but not for motorists going west.

The BPD patrol car didn’t stop at the posted stop sign and slammed into the passenger side of the Honda Accord, previous reporting said. Hernandez was taken to Kern Medical with major injuries, while both officers were also injured. Cobbins and Robles were released from the hospital within four days of the crash.

It’s unclear who was driving the BPD car. The CHP noted in an initial news release issued the day of the crash a 23-year-old was driving that car. The BPD said Robles is 23 and Cobbins is 24.

The CHP issued a different news release also identifying both Cobbins and Robles, but then didn’t mark who was the driver in this separate document.

Neither officer was charged by 5 p.m. Tuesday. The families of Hernandez and Lares have retained attorneys.