Bakersfield Man Threatened to Blow up Girlfriend, Arrested after SWAT Standoff
Ponderosa Avenue (top) back sup to Haupt Avenue
BAKERSFIELD — A 32-year-old Bakersfield man believed to have threatened to blow up his girlfriend with a homemade explosive device was arrested on Saturday after an intense SWAT standoff.
Cory Joe Pearson was booked into the Kern County Jail on charges of battery on a spouse, resisting arrest, willful cruelty to a child, threatening crime with intent to terrorize, reporting a false bomb to any person, and for violating his probation.
According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began at around 2:30 p.m. on December 5, when Pearson allegedly sent threatening text messages to his girlfriend, including a picture of what appeared to be several sticks of dynamite taped to his waist.
Pearson then purportedly showed up at the girlfriend’s residence on Sago Palm Street, threatened to blow her and her children up, and then forced his way inside, where her allegedly assaulted the woman. “The victim began calling out for help, and as family members came to her aid, the suspect fled the residence,” said Public Information Officer Ray Pruitt.
A short time later, a witness told deputies they saw Pearson enter a residence in the 8000 block of Haupt Avenue.
Deputies responded to the area where they said they saw Pearson climbing a fence into the back yard of a home in the 8700 block of Ponderosa near Haupt Avenue. “Knowing that the suspect may still be in possession of a possible explosive device, deputies immediately began evacuating residents from nearby homes,” Pruitt said.
The Bakersfield Police Department SWAT team and bomb squad responded, and after searching the area with a K-9 unit, immediately located Pearson hiding in a back yard.
Pearson, who was bitten by the police K-9 during his arrest, was transported to a local area hospital for treatment and then released a short time later into police custody.
A search of the area where Pearson was arrested yielded the device he was wearing hidden in a bush next to a church in the 800 block of Monica Street. “After an x-ray of the device it was determined the device was only a hoax,” Pruitt said.
