BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The names of the two Bakersfield police officers who were involved in a fatal crash back on Jan. 19 have been released.
According to the Bakersfield Police Department, Officer Travione Cobbins and Officer Ricardo Robles were in a marked patrol car when they collided with a 2013 Honda Accord at Muller Road and South Vineland Drive.
In a statement released by the BPD, it stated that "Officer Cobbins has been a police officer with the Bakersfield Police Department for approximately 2 years. Officer Robles has been a police officer with the Bakersfield Police Department for approximately one year."
According to a preliminary report from the California Highway Patrol, the Accord that was carrying two people was traveling westbound on Muller Road. At the same time, a 2016 Ford Taurus patrol car that was carrying the two BPD officers was traveling southbound on South Vineland Road. The two met at an intersection and crashed, leaving both cars on the southwest corner of the intersection.
The CHP report noted that "the intersection of Muller Road and South Vineland Road is controlled by a stop sign for northbound and southbound traffic only."
The driver of the Honda Accord, 30, died at the scene of the crash. His passenger, identified as Ana Hernandez, 34, received major injuries and was taken to Kern Medical Center via helicopter. Officers Cobbins and Robles were taken to a nearby hospital with moderate to major injuries.
The Chain, Cohn, and Clark law firm released a statement saying that the woman, Ana Hernandez, was getting a ride home from work at Grimmway Farms when the crash happened and that she is an innocent bystander. They went on to say in part, "as a law firm that has been involved in these types of cases in the past through our representation of other victims involved in tragic motor vehicle collisions with law enforcement, we can state unequivocally that incidents like this should never happen.”
Both officers are currently on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the crash.
