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BPD Launches Investigation Into Mistaken Identity Arrest Of Teen

NAACP Facebook
19-year-old Tatyana Hargrove tells her story in an online video posted by the Bakersfield NAACP

Late last year the California Department of Justice launched a "patterns and practices" investigation into the Bakersfield Police Department, after a series of incidents and officer involved shootings that drew national attention. New police chief Lyle Martin has been on the job for about as long, and now he has another issue to deal with: an encounter a few weeks ago between his officers and 19-year-old Tatyana Hargrove. It left the African-American woman with injuries from punches and a police K-9.

There’s also a twist in this case, one of mistaken identity. Instead of the five foot two, 115 pound woman, the suspect police were looking for was actually a five foot ten, 170 pound bald man. The story went viral on social media and has made national headlines. Martin has since launched an internal investigation into the incident. To learn more we spoke with reporter Harold Pierce of the Bakersfield Californian who has been following the story and reports residents are asking the DA to drop charges against the teen.

Joe Moore is the President and General Manager of KVPR / Valley Public Radio. He has led the station through major programming changes, the launch of KVPR Classical and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership the station was named California Non-Profit of the Year by Senator Melissa Hurtado (2019), and won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (2022).