Man found guilty of beating girlfriend with fist, gun
A man was found guilty Tuesday of beating his girlfriend before he demanded her jewelry and threatened to shoot her, according to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
Dwight McDowell was convicted in Kern County Superior Court of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, assault with a firearm, inflicting spousal injury and criminal threats.
According to the
DA’s office, on July 10, McDowell barged into his girlfriend’s house where she was watching her two grandchildren and nephew and began hitting her with a closed fist. A concealed gun fell out of his pocket and he began to “pistol-whip” his girlfriend.
McDowell then pointed the gun at her head and demanded she give him the jewelry she was wearing while making threats to shoot her, prosecutors said.
According to the DA, McDowell tried to dissuade his girlfriend from testifying, but she ultimately testified in court. McDowell could face up to 33 years in prison when he is sentenced April 17.
A Bakersfield man was indicted Thursday by a
federal grand jury that accused him of aiming a beam from a laser pointer at an aircraft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Eastern California District Office.
According to prosecutors, Jesse Torres-Alonso, 35, struck a Kern County Sheriff’s Office helicopter with a “dangerously bright green laser beam” on Sept. 28. The beam affected the pilot’s vision and ability to fly effectively.
Torres was arraigned in Bakersfield Thursday and was released on a cash bond. He is scheduled to appear in court again on May 22, according to the agency. If he is convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
The Kern County coroner’s office identified the man
who was shot on the 1000 block of East Planz Road on March 4 and died Tuesday at Kern Medical.
He was Reginald Charles Johnson, 51, of Bakersfield.
The woman who was hit by a car on the 300 block of V
Street on Jan. 27 was identified as Maria Alicia Rios, 22, of Bakersfield, according to the Kern County coroner’s office. The coroner reported Thursday that Rios was taken to Kern Medical, where she died Jan. 30.
The Bakersfield Police Department reported Thurs
day that 13-year-old Jestenia Guevara, who went missing March 9 from the 2800 block of Panama Street, was located.
BPD did not say how she was found, but initially had said she was considered to be at-risk because she had no history of running away.
A 15-year-old girl went missing Monday from the 1900
block of Gage Street, the Bakersfield Police Department reported Thursday.
Mariah Simms is described by BPD as Black, 5 feet, 1 inch tall, 98 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about Simms is asked to call BPD at 661-327-7111.