By Steven Mayer | The Bakersfield Californian | May 5, 2016
Four Bakersfield Police Department patrol vehicles were damaged Wednesday morning in a bizarre chain-reaction crash when the fourth officer in a line of BPD cars traveling together failed to notice the other three had stopped for a red light.
According to a news release from the department, the incident happened at about 8 a.m. as four BPD K-9 officers were westbound, in separate vehicles, on Highway 46 near Interstate 5.
As the first three officers stopped for a red light, the release said, the fourth officer failed to realize the others had stopped and rammed the patrol car in front of him, which caused a chain reaction crash resulting in damage to all four patrol cars.
Three of the cars received moderate to major damage, according to the BPD, while the fourth had minor cosmetic damage.
None of the officers or their K-9 partners was injured. No non-police vehicles were involved. The accident investigation was handled by the California Highway Patrol.
BPD spokesman Sgt. Gary Carruesco said the four were on their way to a training event on the Central Coast.
The department declined to release the names of the officers involved.
In many types of employment scenarios, employees involved in a traffic accident on company time in a company vehicle are often required to submit to a drug test.
Asked Wednesday about BPD policy regarding officers involved in traffic accidents, Carruesco said officers in those situations are not required to be tested for drug or alcohol use.
EDITOR’S NOTE: And I always thought the Keystone Cops existed only in the old silent movies. Seriously though, could the cop who started that chain-reaction crash been texting while driving?
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