Assault and Robbery Suspect Arrested after Dangerous Pursuit in Kings County
Originally published by the Kings County Sheriff’s Office:
On Saturday, October 7, 2023, at approximately 6:24 PM, a Deputy was on patrol when he received a notification from the Bakersfield Police Department. Bakerfield PD reported they were tracking a black Mercedes-Benz that had been involved in a robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. With this information, a Deputy was able to spot the Mercedes as it entered the Walmart parking lot in Hanford. The Deputy activated his lights and attempted to pull the Mercedes over.
The driver of the Mercedes, later identified as Kiera Lee, made a U-turn coming dangerously close to striking the patrol car. Kiera accelerated, blew past a stop sign, and turned south onto 12th Avenue. Kiera took the westbound Highway 198 on-ramp and accelerated to 120 miles per hour before exiting Highway 198 at 13th Avenue. Kiera recklessly traversed through the roundabout where she nearly lost control of the Mercedes. Kiera continued traveling west on Hanford-Armona Road driving with zero regard to the safety of the public. At one point while driving at a high rate of speed, she drove in the oncoming lane of traffic.
The Deputy briefly lost sight of the Mersedes and suddenly saw a large cloud of dust billowing into the air in the 14500 block of Hanford-Armona Road. Kiera had driven through a 6-foot-tall picket fence and into the front yard of a residence. The Deputy pulled up behind the Mercedes and saw that both front doors were open with no one inside.
With the assistance of numerous other Deputies, a perimeter was established, and the Kings County Air Unit (Air1) responded to the scene. Air1 located two subjects (Kiera Lee and Kemora Lee) hiding in nearby brush. A K-9 Unit arrived on the scene and several announcements were made over the PA system. Upon hearing a K-9 was at the scene, both subjects gave up by exiting the brush where they were taken into custody.
A cell phone belonging to the victim from Bakersfield was located wedged in the windshield wiper well between the windshield and hood on the Mercedes. The phone had been used to track the movements of the Mercedes as it came to Kings County. The phone was turned over to Bakersfield PD.
Kiera and Kemora were also turned over to Bakerfield PD as they continued their investigation. KCSO will be recommending charges to be filed with the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. The charges include evading, evading while driving the wrong way, hit and run with property damage and resisting arrest.
Photos (Courtesy of KCSO):
