A 26-year-old Bakersfield Police Department officer died Friday morning after his patrol car crashed into a block wall near Bakersfield College during a vehicle chase.
Officer David Nelson, a two-year veteran of the department, died at Kern Medical Center just after 3 a.m. after being pulled from his burning car by other officers, according to reports.
Police Sgt. Joe Grubbs said Nelson radioed in a routine traffic stop in the area of Flower Street and Haley Street at 2:37 a.m. Friday.
A short time later the officer, sounding winded, got on the radio to tell dispatchers the unlicensed silver Hyundai he'd stopped was fleeing north on Haley Street and he was in pursuit.
A chase proceeded north on Haley over Highway 178 and along the western edge of Bakersfield College until Nelson reported the suspect vehicle turned east on Panorama Drive, Grubbs said.
A short time later the police department lost radio contact with the officer.
Police units, responding to the pursuit, arrived at Panorama and Mt. Vernon Avenue at around 2:40 a.m. to find the officer's patrol vehicle had collided with a block wall on the northeast corner of the intersection.
The patrol car's engine block caught fire, Grubbs reported, but officers pulled Nelson from the vehicle before the fire burned through into the passenger compartment.
Nelson was rushed to Kern Medical Center where he died at around 3:05 a.m., Grubbs reported.
Nelson was the eighth Bakersfield Police Officer who has died in the line of duty during the department's history and the first officer lost in over 31 years. The last officer to die was Officer William L. Sikola who died in July 1983 on Highway 99 when he lost control of his motorcycle while assisting on a call.
"I am deeply saddened at the tragic accident this morning that claimed the life of a Bakersfield Police officer during a vehicle pursuit," said Mayor Harvey Hall in an official statement. "As a city we mourn with the victim's family, and with the local law enforcement community."
"This is the eighth time the Bakersfield Police Department has endured the loss of one of its own," he wrote. "May it be the last."
The California Highway Patrol will be investigating Friday's fatal crash.
Investigators are searching for more information about Hyundai Nelson was pursuing at the time of the crash and anyone with information about the vehicle or its occupants can call (661) 852-7800. Members of the public who wish to share their condolences with Nelson's family can call (661) 852-7021.. -- Staff writer Lauren Foreman contributed to this report.
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