Over the past several months, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office has received numerous theft reports from the business district near Pegasus Road and Merle Haggard Boulevard. The thefts occurred during the late night hours and early morning. The suspects were stealing copper wire, hand/power tools and other construction equipment. During one of the thefts, a black Dodge truck was captured on a video surveillance camera.
On September 5, 2015, Kern County Sheriff’s Reserve Deputy Byron “Kip” Williamson and Reserve Deputy Joe Bariffi conducted a directed patrol in the area of Pegasus Road. They received information that a truck matching the description of the Dodge was spotted on Decatur Street, in Oildale.
Reserve Deputy Williamson located the vehicle and conducted an enforcement stop for a vehicle violation.
During the traffic stop, Aaron Kirschenman, 47, of Bakersfield was identified as the driver. Kirschenman had several items of stolen property inside the truck from a recent burglary near Pegasus Road. Kirschenman was arrested and booked into the Kern County Jail on charges of burglary, possession of stolen property, and possession of burglary tools.
Kern County Sheriff’s Office Rural Crime Unit detectives searched two residences associated with Kirschenman and located several more items of stolen property. During the investigation, Kirschenman was found to be in possession of four separate victim’s stolen property, estimated at $10,000.00.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation should contact the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Rural Crime Investigation Unit at 661-392-4365.
