Downtown Wreck Kills Skateboarder

Drugs and alcohol appear to not be factors in a wreck that between a semi and a pedestrian and shut down a downtown intersection for roughly three hours.

Sgt. Joe Grubbs with the Bakersfield Police Department says it happened Thursday afternoon as the big rig was turning on a green light.

“Officers were dispatched to Union and California at around 12:53 p.m. regarding a vehicle vs. skateboarder collision,” he said. “The skateboarder appears to be a teenager.”

Grubbs says the victim died after being rushed to a hospital. The driver is cooperating with the investigation.

– Anthony Pollreisz