Woman who lost case against BPD is accused of tampering with police officer’s food
A woman who recently lost a lawsuit alleging excessive force by two Bakersfield police officers was arrested Friday on suspicion of tampering with food served to a Bakersfield police officer at a McDonald’s.
McDonald’s management reported that while reviewing video, they learned an employee allegedly tampered with food served to a law enforcement officer Tuesday, according to a news release from the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.
A Bakersfield Police Department spokesman confirmed it was a BPD officer involved in the incident. McDonald’s provided the video evidence to the KCSO, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Tatyana Hargrove, 21, was arrested after deputies went to the restaurant at 13003 Rosedale Highway, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Hargrove was at the center of a high-profile dispute with the BPD in 2017, after two police officers mistook her for a male suspect and she was bitten by a police dog. Hargrove said at the time she had been thrown to the ground and punched in the face by the officers. The officers’ accounts differed from Hargrove, providing a less confrontational version of the encounter.
The BPD eventually called the encounter a case of mistaken identity while the Bakersfield chapter of the NAACP said it was racially motivated.
Bakersfield Police Chief Lyle Martin apologized to Hargrove’s family after the incident, saying the department would strive to do better.
Hargrove sued the city of Bakersfield in federal court in 2017 alleging excessive force and civil rights violations, seeking punitive and compensatory damages. In October, a jury found in favor of the city and the police officers.
Bakersfield police arrested a man in connection with a felony hit-and-run on Nov. 3 that left a man riding a bicycle in critical condition.
The bicyclist was hit on South P Street just before 10:45 p.m. that evening by a gray 2013 Dodge Charger. The vehicle fled the scene and still had visible damage consistent with the collision, according to a police news release.
Police arrested Marco Alatorre, 23, on Saturday.
Kern County firefighters were dispatched to Tehachapi on Friday afternoon on a report that a hiker was suffering a medical emergency on the Pacific Crest Trail, according to a news release.
A helicopter hoist rescue ensued 2 miles from Tehachapi Willow Springs Road, and the patient was retrieved and flown to a nearby landing zone before being taken by ambulance to a hospital, the release said.
The Fire Department deemed the rescue a success, according to the release.
The Kern County Fire Department, along with Kern County Environmental Health Services, responded to reports of a potential hazmat incident just before 8 p.m. Friday at the NuSil facility on Pegasus Drive, according to a Fire Department news release.
Firefighters confirmed the facility had been evacuated and isolated the area as a hazmat team investigated, according to the Fire Department. A 55-gallon barrel was located and reported as “bulging” after being used previously to store sodium amide, which reacted with the water it had been cleaned with. It was determined that the barrel was empty, the chemical reaction had stopped and the barrel was no longer a hazard, the Fire Department reported.
The barrel was left on scene for NuSil employees to dispose of.
Bakersfield police will conduct a DUI/ driver’s license checkpoint between 6 p.m. and midnight Tuesday at an undisclosed location within city limits, according to a Bakersfield Police Department news release.
Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment while checking drivers for proper licensing.
Funding for the checkpoint is provided to the BPD by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the release said.
Police encourage the public to help keep local roads safe by calling 911 if they see a suspected impaired driver.