Photo: Sidhu (left) and Adam Barness (The Californian)
KERN – When CHP made a traffic stop on January 16 near Highway 65 and James Road, a saga began. They discovered Evmir Evangelista deceased in the car. Soon they would ask themselves, “Who is the real Barness?”
They also saw two other adult males with the body in the car – Manpreet Sidhu and Ben Barness. Or, as the press release states, “identified himself as Ben Barness.”
Authorities released Sidhu and held Barness on a stolen vehicle charge. Barness served a brief sentence and on March 6 walked free.
Then, on May 30, new information and forensic testing led to Sidhu and Ben Barness’ re-arrest.
However, the “Ben Barness” they had this time was not the “Ben Barness” they arrested in January. The fingerprints did not match. It turns out that CHP arrested Adam Barness in January.
They released the real Ben Barness, Adam’s innocent brother. Consequently they arrested Adam Barness on June 1.
Sidhu and Adam Barness are now in custody and facing a charge of murder.
