Claim seeks more than $5M for fatal crash involving BPD

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A claim seeking more than $5 million has been filed against the city in connection with the death of a man struck by a Bakersfield Police Department vehicle in June.

The claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, says the officer drove at excessive speed and without emergency lights or siren activated when he hit and killed a man crossing South Union Avenue.

Brandon Elliott Gabriel Flores , 27, died at the scene of the June 17 crash.

The claim was filed last month by Los Angeles-based Law Offices of Larry Rabineau on behalf of Flores’ 3-year-old daughter. The city has 45 days from the date of filing to respond.

Police say Flores was hit around 3:30 a.m. near the 1500 block of South Union Avenue by a patrol car driven by Officer Julian Garcia.

Garcia and Officer Zachary Ward, the vehicle’s other occupant, were headed to a report of an auto theft in progress downtown. Police confirmed soon after the crash that the vehicle’s emergency lights and siren had not been activated.

“The area was dark and the driver of said police vehicle failed to drive in a reasonably safe manner given the conditions of the area,” the claim says. “Moreover, the city of Bakersfield failed to maintain the subject roadway in a reasonably safe and non-hazardous manner.”

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