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Outrage In Bakersfield After Police Shoot Unarmed Man

By Coburn Palmer
Published on: 16:46 PST, Aug 26, 2015

Bakersfield, California sits astride Highway 99 just north of Los Angeles and is ground zero for oil production and its fracking opponents, but it became embroiled in a different type of controversy this weekend.

Saturday night, Bakersfield police shot through the window of a Subway restaurant and killed an unarmed man inside because they thought he was robbing the restaurant.

Officers say they thought 29-year-old Jason Lee Alderman was carrying a rifle, while in fact he was carrying a tire iron.

Now, the family has hired an attorney to find the truth and city residents have begun to protest what they’re calling an “excessive use of force.”

Layla Alderman, Jason’s aunt, told 23 ABC News she didn’t know why Jason was in the Subway that night, but she didn’t trust the police.

“There’s too many inconsistencies about what went on. The stories have changed so many times.”

Tuesday, protesters rallied on the Police Department steps chanting, “hands up don’t shoot,” and demanding justice and an open and full accounting of the officer’s actions.

The controversy began Saturday night when two officers responding to an unrelated call nearby say they heard breaking glass and saw Jason Alderman inside a Subway with what appeared to be a rifle.

The restaurant was closed at the time, and the employees were reported to have left an hour earlier.

Officers say Alderman walked toward them with what they thought was a rifle and refused orders to stop forcing them to open fire. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The family, however, isn’t buying that explanation.

A police spokesman first said there was no video of the incident, but was then contacted by the restaurant chain’s corporate office, which said it had a copy of the event. Officers from the department then descended on the store and confiscated the restaurant’s servers promising a forensic review.

Eyewitness accounts also pose a problem, as the only living person who saw what happened was the passenger officer who opened fire. The driver of the patrol car wasn’t in a position to see what happened, according to police.

The officer involved in the shooting, four-year veteran Chad Garrett, was also involved in a 2013 shooting death of a police informant.

Although the Sheriff’s office has dash cams, the police don’t. Officers also aren’t equipped with body cameras although a pilot program is in place.

Alderman does have an extensive criminal record including burglary and strong arm robbery.

It hasn’t been a good year for Bakersfield law enforcement.

The Police Department has been involved in seven shootings this year, while the Sheriff’s Department is involved in a separate lawsuit after a deputy crashed into and killed a 72-year-old woman while driving 85-miles-per-hour through a stop light.

[Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images]

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