UPDATED: Man killed, woman injured in collision involving two BPD officers, who were also hurt

Jan. 19—A man died and three people — including two Bakersfield Police Department officers — suffered moderate to major injuries after their vehicles collided early Thursday morning outside Edison.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the two-vehicle collision and the BPD launched a critical incident investigation as is routine under department policy. BPD's investigation will examine if the two police officers followed proper procedure and policy regarding vehicle pursuits, BPD spokesman Sgt. Robert Pair said.

BPD Chief Greg Terry vowed to cooperate with CHP's investigation.

"Our hearts go out to all affected by this tragic accident," Terry said in a statement. "Events like this result in a necessary examination of what happened and why. We will continue to fully cooperate with the California Highway Patrol for a complete and thorough investigation."

A 30-year-old Bakersfield man was driving a Honda Accord west at unknown speed with Ana Hernandez, 34, of Bakersfield and approached the intersection of South Vineland Road and Muller Road.

A BPD patrol vehicle with two officers was going south on South Vineland Road and approached the intersection too and crashed, the California Highway Patrol wrote in a news release. They are "presumed" to have been driving to help police officers who were pursuing another, unrelated car, Pair said.

Hernandez's father said his family is praying for Hernandez's recovery in a statement provided by Matt Clark and Chris Hagan, attorneys with Chain Cohn Clark. Hernandez underwent two surgeries as of Thursday afternoon and was on her way home from working at Grimmway Farms, when she was hit.

"We have a close family, which includes my wife and four children," said father Rodolfo Hernandez, whose words were translated from Spanish to English. "Her siblings are flying in from Mexico to be close to their sister, and so we can all be together at (this) time. We are all primarily concerned with (the) health of our daughter, and we're praying for her full recovery."

The unrelated car chase began at 2:08 a.m. in the 3300 block of California Avenue when police officers attempted to stop a reportedly stolen tan GMC Sierra, but it led officers on a chase going east, BPD wrote in a news release.

Suspect Michael Monte Stephens, 21, drove onto eastbound Edison Highway but officers stopped chasing him around 2:14 a.m. because he was going too fast and it became a danger to the public, the news release said. Patrol vehicles found Stephens going south on Weedpatch Highway near Highway 58 began to pursue him. Stephens, of Delano, failed to stop and eventually crashed into a water pump around 2:21 a.m., Pair said.

Stephens was taken to a hospital after undergoing a "medical condition" unrelated to the crash, the news release said.

A BPD patrol car carrying two officers — a 23-year-old man and a 24-year-old man — were on their way to help apprehend Stephens when they collided with the Honda Accord, police said.

The cars collided in the intersection, which only has a stop sign for traffic going north or south. Pair referred to CHP's investigation when asked what led to the collision.

An employee of surrounding orchards called BPD and reported the collision at 2:23 a.m., though this person didn't see the collision.

The 30-year-old man driving the Honda, whose name has not been released, died at the scene while Hernandez, the passenger, was flown to Kern Medical by helicopter, CHP said.

Clark and Hagan, the attorneys with Chain Cohn Clark, noted Hernandez had orthopedic fractures and internal organ injuries.

"She is an innocent bystander in this incident," the attorneys wrote.

The lawyers will send their own team of experts to examine the scene because the CHP multidisciplinary accident investigation team already gathered evidence. The Hernandez family retained the services of Chain Cohn Clark.

Both police officers were also taken to the hospital, CHP said. Neither BPD nor the CHP released the names of the police officers.

There were no witnesses to the actual crash, so CHP asks anyone with information to call their office at 661-396-6600.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.