A traffic stop in Bakersfield turned into a manhunt Thursday, October 29, 2026, just before 1 p.m. after a driver refused to pull over and two people inside the vehicle took off on foot, leaving behind a car with a gun inside. Police are still searching for both suspects, and it remains unclear whether either of them is armed.
According to KGET 17 News, Bakersfield police officers tried to pull over a vehicle near West Columbus Street and Chester Avenue just before 1 p.m. The driver did not yield, and the two people inside fled from officers once the stop fell apart.
Officers who searched the vehicle afterward found a firearm inside, the outlet reports. Police have said that whether the two suspects themselves are armed is unknown, leaving a key question hanging over the search as it continues.
What Police Haven't Said
Beyond the basic sequence of events, details remain thin. No descriptions, names, or ages of the two suspects have been released, and it is not yet known whether either of them has been located or taken into custody since fleeing the scene near West Columbus Street and Chester Avenue.
It's also not clear from available reporting whether officers pursued the vehicle before it stopped, or whether any additional evidence beyond the single firearm was recovered during the search. For now, the case remains an open search for two people who ran rather than face a traffic stop that uncovered a weapon in their car.
A 2019 analysis of traffic-stop searches at California’s eight largest police departments found firearms in about 0.5% of searches—roughly 560 guns among 103,800 searches. The analysis did not include Bakersfield, so it cannot show how often local traffic-stop searches uncover firearms; it does place the reported discovery in a broader statewide context. The Public Policy Institute of California’s analysis
Bakersfield’s published vehicle-pursuit policy says officers must weigh the suspected offense against risks to the public, officers and others when deciding whether to continue a vehicle pursuit; it also identifies factors such as traffic, time of day and whether a suspect could be apprehended later. The policy provides context for the unanswered question of whether officers pursued the car, but does not establish what happened in this case. Bakersfield Police Department’s pursuit policy
