Aug. 02--The Tehachapi Police Department will likely need to replace two patrol cars after the officers behind the wheels of the vehicles collided Saturday morning.
"There's no good explanation for why (the crash) happened," Tehachapi Police Chief Jeff Kermode said Wednesday in response to questions from The Californian. "It's likely that there'll be discipline that flows from the accident."
The crash happened at about 2:45 a.m. in an unfinished housing tract on South Alder Avenue at the intersection with Malona Court, according to Mojave area California Highway Patrol Officer Ed Smith. Tehachapi police officers Wayne Horning and Denise Brown were parked side-by-side in marked Crown Victoria patrol cars after they had cleared a call to a report of a verbal disturbance involving two people yelling at each other, Kermode said. The chief said the call was not on those streets but in the same "general" area.
Horning pulled out first and was making a U-turn when Brown also pulled out and hit Horning's vehicle on the driver's side, Smith said.
"The officer that made the U-turn didn't see that the second car had pulled out," Kermode said.
Both vehicles had non-police passengers along when the crash occurred. Cheryl Snowder, 54, a member of the department's Volunteers in Police Service program, was riding with Brown. Carina Barajas, 22, a dispatcher for the Bear Valley Police Department, was riding with Horning. The Tehachapi Police Department contracts with the Bear Valley Police Department for dispatch services, Kermode said.
Smith said air bags deployed in both cars. The two civilian women complained of pain, while Brown had a laceration and complained of pain as well, Smith said. The CHP did not have any injuries listed for Horning, but Kermode said the officer had a headache following the crash. All four were taken to a hospital in Tehachapi where they were treated and released, Kermode said.
The CHP has not determined who was at fault in the crash and is still investigating the incident.
Kermode said his department will await the CHP's report before making any decisions.
"We're waiting for the CHP report because that will handle much of the investigation for us," Kermode said. "It doesn't make sense to dig into it until we have that paperwork in front of us."
Brown has been with the police department since its inception in 2007 and Horning has been with the police force for about three years, the chief said. The officers involved in the crash are working as usual.
The patrol cars were two of the oldest in the department's fleet, dating back to when the department started, according to Kermode. Both vehicles had more than 95,000 miles each on them, the chief said.
"Given the age of the vehicles, the cost of the repairs will probably result in at least one of the cars being totaled," Kermode said.
Both cars will likely have to be replaced, the chief said, although the department was budgeting to replace one of the vehicles already. Kermode said a couple of officers with take home vehicles have had to bring those vehicles back to the department to make up for the loss of the two patrol cars.
Copyright 2012 - The Bakersfield Californian
