BAKERSFIELD — A Bakersfield man was shot by police Sunday evening after he tried to run over two officers with his car.
Gilbert Fajardo, a 20-year-old Bakersfield resident, is in stable condition at Kern Medical Center.
According to the Bakersfield Police Department, the shooting occurred at around 7 p.m. on May 17, when officer Lindy DeGeare and officer Juan Orozco responded to the 600 block of Planz Road in southeast Bakersfield to check the welfare of a subject inside of a vehicle.
“When officers arrived, they located the vehicle occupied by a sole male driver who was asleep or passed out,” BPD Public Relations Officer Joe Grubbs said. “Officers woke the driver, who after being asked to exit the vehicle, started the vehicle, and rapidly accelerated nearly running over officer Orozco, who was positioned on the passenger side of the vehicle.”
At that time, officer DeGeare, believing her partner had been or was being run over, fired her weapon several times at Fajardo, striking him.
Fajardo lost control of his vehicle, colliding with a parked van.
Medical aid arrived on the scene and Fajardo was transported to a local hospital.
“Both officers were uninjured,” Grubbs said.
During their initial contact with Fajardo, officers observed that the vehicle he was occupying did not have license plates, but did have a plate on the dash that returned to a make and model vehicle other than the one in which Fajardo was occupying.
Officer DeGeare was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
