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Stallion Springs Police Department vehicle involved in fatal accident
Topics: fatality, Highway 58, accident, CHP, Stallion Springs Police Department
Posted by editor Sat Mar 17, 2007 09:28:51 PDT
Viewed 3989 times
0 responses 17 comments An accident on March 16 involving a motorcyclist and a Stallion Springs Police Department patrol vehicle occurred at the corner of Tucker Road and Tehachapi Boulevard, resulting in the death of the motorcyclist.

The motorcycle rider, Calvin Lloyd Wren, 40, of Arvin, was initially transported from the scene by Mercy Air to the Kern Medical Center [KMC].

According to California Highway Patrol, Officer Gary Crowell, of the Stallion Springs
Police Department, was traveling northbound on Tucker Boulevard responding with sirens and lights flashing (Code-3) en route to assist another Stallion Springs Police Department officer who had made a high-risk stop on Highway 58.

Witnesses interviewed by the CHP said as Crowell approached the intersection, vehicles nearing the intersection yielded to his siren and lights. Crowell entered the intersection on a red light.

Sandy Tremiti, of Tehachapi, who drives truck for a living, said she never saw the police vehicle brake.

“You’ ve got to make sure the intersection is clear, you just don’t run it,” Tremiti said.

Wren, was operating a 1999 Harley Davidson, traveling westbound on Tehachapi Boulevard when he entered the intersection on a green light and collided with the right front of Crowell’s 2006 Ford Explorer patrol vehicle.

The impact forced Crowell’s vehicle to the left where it side-swiped a 2002 Toyota Tundra driven by Deverick Durham, 36, of Tehachapi.

Wren was pronounced dead at KMC by Kern County Deputy Coroner, J.E. Cameron. No other injuries were reported, including Durham’s passenger, Leah Durham, 25, of Tehachapi.

Multiple roads were closed including the Tucker Road exit off Highway 58, Tucker Road, Tehachapi Boulevard and Red Apple Road, affecting traffic throughout the area for approximately five hours.
 

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Comment From: ShaneThePain

Lets wait for the investigation to be completed. Comment From: TehachapiResident

'OGM' SS PD are police officers full time, not just in SS their home turf. If they are returning from a court case in Mojave and observed something illegal they have a sworn duty to protect and serve the state of CA. The entire state is their jurisdiction. They also have to back up or respond to sheriff calls under their dispatch agreement. This is a bad situation on both sides. Emergency vehicles are always at risk when responding to calls. The public needs to be alert and observe their surroundings while driving. It seems to be getting more common that I'll pull over on hwy 202 to yield to a oncoming emergency vehicle only to have the car behind me either almost hit me or actually go around me totally ignoring the emergency vehicle coming towards us. Lets not be so quick to attack or put blame on our public safety personnel.

Tehachapiresident added:  'OGM' thank you for removing your previous comment.

Comment From: olebluelight

Why quote the one negative witness at the scene? I was there and almost all witness' agreed that Crowell slowed and waited for cross traffic to yield before accelerating thru the intersection. The motorcyclist was behind a car which had stopped/yielded but accelerated passing the stopped car on the left and shooting into the intersection. Apparently he didn't realize the situation. This is extremely unfortunate, however the officer did what he was sopposed to do, wait and be sure traffic yielded before proceeding. There's no way to anticipate this sort of thing. Comment From: chpcvis

I talked to several officers and I agree. Why would the news print a negative comment like that, and from a truck driver. Most people know truck drivers hate police and always refer to them negatively. All comments I've heard are "unfortunate", "unavoidable", and "tragic". Comment From: ShaneThePain

My post above was directed to a blogger that blamed the officer for the accident. They did this without any facts other then what was posted on here. That blogger then deleted their post. I hope everyone involved in this accident get thru this. That includes the riders family, the cop, the emergency responders, and the bystanders that rendered aid. Lets not put any blame out there before the investigation is done. A big Thank You needs to go out to all the people that stopped to help. People that stopped only because another person was in need.  We all have lots of questions that will be answered after the CHP complete their investigation. Putting fault on the cop or the rider at this time is premature. Comment From: countygirl

Yes, I hope no one jumps to conclusions to fast. Keep in mind that this is Tehachapi and the rumor mill is in full force here. My brother was involved in an accident about a year and a half ago(maybe 2 years.) where pedestrians were involved. Luckily no one died as a result of this accident, but it was touch and go for a few days. He was not at fault, but the false accusations and rumors almost broke him. Please just keep in mind that this poor mans family is having to deal with a horrible loss and the officer is in a living HELL right now. TRUST ME! Right now the best thing for us to do is keep everyone involved in our thoughts and prayers. Comment From: fatrouell

I am a wife a greaving best friend of calvin. He was a great man to all he came in contact with. He was a loving husband and a great dad. We are not talking about a man who was careless he was aways aware of what was around him at all times. more and more witnesses are comming out and im sorry i dont think in my heart calvin was to blame. the officer that hit him was observed being reckless about 5 mins before calvin was hit by him. im not saying the officer by no means ment to hurt or kill cavin but he did. we are understanding to a point he was on his way to a call but calvin did not go around any car he was at the light when it turned green. i hope all knows we are not trying to put any blame on anyone untill all investigations are complete. Comment From: babydoll

I don't think the blame should be placed on anyone's shoulders. It was a very unfortunate accident and my heart goes out to everyone involved and affected by this tragedy. Comment From: Screemy1

When an emergency responder enters any intersection the following is LAW: A stop sign is just that, a stop sign. A traffic signal that is green is an open intersection that should be entered at a safe speed not 70+ MPH just because lights and sirens are on. A red stop light is a stop sign, you come to a complete stop and proceed when intersection is clear. I know that emergency vehicles roll stop signs just like the average driver, and emergency vehicles roll through red lights, but you risk hitting other things and this resulted in a death, if it was not a complete stop then the blame is the one who did not stop at the red. Lights and sirens do not exempt ANYONE from treating intersections as stated above. Every year accidents happen like this and they are preventable... STOP and proceed when intersection is clear. Yes I have experiance driving emergency vehicles code-3. Hope the officer stopped completely because a lawyer would have a field day otherwise.

I wish the families of all parties well, everyone must be going through some hard times now.  And for the picture on the front page....  very dis tasteful for the family of the deceased.....

Comment From: cburkman

The bottom line is who had the right away. I know everyone is trying to be understanding but it should be said, that law enforcement officers do not have the immediate right to go through an intersection simply because they are responding with sirens and lights... I am frustrated that someone lost their life because someone else was not paying the amount of attention that was called for. On another note, why were two Stallion Springs police officers in the city proper as opposed to their own area??? We have Kern County Sheriff's for the city, BVPD for Bear Valley and appropriately named, STallion Springs for those areas. I jsut have to wonder at the whys or them being in town... It needs to said... Comment From: EMANUEL

First, let me say how sorry I am to the family of the victim regarding this tragedy. Second, Why were there 2 Stallion PD radio cars so far out of Stallion Springs? What if someone was breaking into my home during this incident, who would have rolled to my house and protect my family, being that i'm a Stallion resident? Even if one of Stallion's radio cars were on T-stop, on the freeway, CHP or KCSD would have a shorter ETA. Too many times I see Stallion PD in the city and isn't that about 15 miles out of their patrol area? I also see Bear Valley PD and Stallion PD radio cars on traffic stops in areas that don't even belong to them. Maybe this should be a wake-up call for our local PD's. Protect the residents in their areas not on silly traffic stops. Comment From: JeffWarner

The bottom line is Calvin Wren was wonderful person that lost is life. To come onto a message board and argue who had the right of way, who's fault it was etc. is up to the investigation. Whether you knew Calvin or not lets not forget that he's not here to tell us his side of the story. Have some compassion. RIP Calvin, I'll miss you buddy. Comment From: cburkman

The reason I posted at all is because it hurts me deeply to see what appears to be another senseless accident take a life. I have seen too many people hurt by things that could have been prevented. I only wrote to bring awareness to what seems to be a serious issue. I did not mean to offend or take away from tragedy itself but hopefully to bring light to something that will stop the same from happening again... My deepest condolences to the family! Comment From: Denise1024

My heart goes out to the family of Mr. Wren. This is a very tragic accident. I do have a comment about the picture chosen for the cover of the newspaper. I feel it was wrong to publish a picture of a dying man. It would break my heart to see any family or friends of mine forever captured in such a Tragic way. I believe it is too much like cashing in on the pain and suffering of another human being, just for the sake of morbid curiousity. Again to the family of Mr. Wren My condolences to you, you are in my prayers. Comment From: se137

If you have never invested time into seeing what these special districts are legally allowed to do, then you should check out California Government Code 16271(d) as it lays out pretty clear guidelines of what boundaries they are allowed to operate within, assuming you can hazard a guess at the taxable area for the specific special district.To the person that said that SSPD has state juridiction: they do not and no they never have. They are paid by and work for for a community; not a county, not a city, not a state. They are simply validated by the state as an operating special district and they agree to the terms set forth in the California Code which include operating within their taxable area. But here, read it for yourself:----------(d) "Special district" means any agency of the state for the local performance of governmental or proprietary functions within limited boundaries. "Special district" includes a county service area, a maintenance district or area, an improvement district or improvement zone, or any other zone or area formed for the purpose of designating an area within which a property tax rate will be levied to pay for a service or improvement benefitting that area.---------- Comment From: medicone

Here is another law for you to read. It is called PC830, It identifies what a police officer is and what they can do. SSPD officers are covered under PC830. They can enforce the law anywhere in the State of California. They also back up other departments under a mutual aid agreement. That way when they need help in Stallion Springs they will get it back. The question is not if he was covered under the law to be there, the question is did he need to be there. That's why they are doing an investigation. For everyone that thinks their cops should never go outside of their area remember that when your cops need help from other departments! Comment From: amandac

First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with families of Calvin and the officer involved. As a member of law enforcement, it is very frustrating to hear rude comments or even ignorant comments against us from the very people we are sworn to protect. To emanuel and cburkman, officers have the right to enforce the laws anywhere in the state of california and have the duty to take action when it is deemed necessary by them. They are the trained ones! If there is an accident, for example, they are bound by the oath they take to stop and be of service until the first responder gets there. Yes, officers have their jusridiction and yes bear valley officers are paid to protect bear valley and stallion officers are paid to protect stallion, but they also have business to take care of in town and other places you might not expect to see them, such as for a follow up on a case or maybe because they live outside of their jurisdiction. Regardless of where they are, they have the right to enforce the laws as they deem necessary. If there was someone committing a vehicle code violation or something, God forbid, more serious, I can guarantee that everyone who questioned this officer's jurisdiction, would be up in arms because that officer did not enforce the law and they did not take action because it was "out of his/ her jurisdiction". It was an unfortunate tragedy, but by placing blame, we are not helping the situation, animosity, or anyone involved. It is important to remember that just because the motorcyclist was not at fault does not mean that the officer who, went through the intersection on a red light, was at fault either. They don't call them accidents for no reason. And as for Screemy1, lights and sirens DO exempt peace officers from stopping at redlights, but not through proceeding through them cautiously. Just because it appears he did not slow down to a shocked, untrained witness, does not mean that he went through the intersection carelessly!!! In my opinion,there is NO WAY that ANYONE can go through a traffic signal or intersection without taking special note and observation regardless of wether they slow down or not. Doing so just goes against human nature. We need to remember that the police were just doing their jobs and Gary Crowell was out there protecting the lives of his fellow officers and the community. And emanuel, NO TRAFFIC STOP is a silly one as they can turn deadly at any moment. Try living in the life of an officer for a day. I guarantee you would have a new respect for the profession that you have bad- mouthed!