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CHP Officer Who Arrested Firefighter Beat Unconscious by Bar Patrons
March 7, 2010 9:53 AM
A California Highway Patrol officer who made local headlines when he arrested a Montecito fireman has been injured in a fight with three men in a bar and says he has no recollection of the incident.
Bakersfield police responded at 2:02 a.m. on Feb. 20 to reports of a man down at RJ's Bar & Grill in the northwest section of town. There, they found off-duty CHP Officer Joseph Rodriquez in need of medical assistance.
Police say differing witness accounts alternately have Officer Rodriguez attempting to break up a fight between two women and then getting jumped and beaten by three men or trying to intercede after a man began pushing a woman and getting beaten by six men, including one who smashed a beer bottle over the officer's head, according to Bakersfield Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Mary DeGeare.
Bakersfield police said that one of the two witnesses was an acquaintance of Officer Rodriquez, who was transported to the hospital and has since been released and returned to active duty according to CHP Captain Jeff Sgobba.
Bakersfield police say they have not yet spoken with Officer Rodriguez and asked about this, Capt. Sgobba said, "When a person gets hit on the head, they don't remember. He remembers going out to dinner, that's it. He doesn't remember anything else.
"He told me ... (after he was hit in the head) he thought he was in Santa Barbara and looking for his motorcycle."
Even with the memory loss, Capt. Sgobba said the officer is "still healthy enough to be on active duty."
Captain Sgobba would provide no additional information and instead directed questions to the Bakersfield Police Department.
"He went to the hospital and was not questioned," said Sgt. Mary DeGeare. "The responding officer opted to have someone contact him at a later date."
RJ's manager, Guy Adamson, told the News-Press he had no knowledge of any assault or police action in his parking lot on the date in question.
"If something happened, he would know about it," he said.
Representatives from the restaurant also said the establishment closes at 1:45 a.m.
No arrests have been made in the case.
Anyone with information about the incident should contact Kevin Findley of the Bakersfield Police Department at 661-326-3919.
Officer Rodriguez was also involved in an incident on Feb. 15, when he briefly arrested and handcuffed a Montecito Fire Protection District battalion chief who allegedly refused to move a fire truck that was blocking on-coming traffic in an attempt to screen firefighters working at the scene of a minor crash on Highway 101 near San Ysidro Road.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Retribution is SWEET! Apparently this guy still hasnt got the message. If your going to act like a dick your going to get treated like a prick. Engage mouth, disingage brain. Karma Indeed!
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Without the gun and badge.... not the Billy Badass he thought he was maybe.
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My suspician thats probaby 75% of the problem. The other 25% vacant brain cavaty.
Head is located somewhere South up a dark cavaty.
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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on
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HA His name might be Billy but without his badge the bad ass went away!
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Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on
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all I have to say Is IM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN
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Permalink Reply by Skunk on
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Ralph L. Carr IV said:
''Maybe this young trooper would be better off working in OK? Maybe the young man has some anger issues too? Lets hope he addresses them before something really bad happens.'' *End quote*
Because I am a Okie I must say the notorious actions of the one Trooper in Okla should not be a reflection on OHP as a whole. Overall OHP troopers are a very professional and hard working bunch that in my experience work great with other public service agencies.
Unfortunately LEO agencies seem to find and employ egotistical rectums often and OHP has very few in my opinion.
I know its hard to ''Fire'' a Public servant but the trooper that assaulted the Medic should have lost his job. OHP dropped the ball having not discharged that Trooper but I guess that happens..
Anyway just wanted to say OHP is respectable in my opinion, they Run the Oklahoma Lake patrol and we have many lakes. They have Hazmat and Bomb as well as diving and special operation divisions and even a few other divisions with various tasks.
They are definitely not a average Law Enforcement Agency and as a Firefighter I do not Sigh when they show up haha!
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Permalink Reply by Curt Varone on
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I also have lived in oklahoma and fought fire in oklahoma. I knew a few troopers that were good and some that were bad but SKUNK (love the name) saying maybe he should be in ok is like talking about mountain men in arkansas. So dont get to worked up over it.
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Permalink Reply by WestPhilly on
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Yo! What phuckin "Karma" are you pinheads talking about? According to the article, the cop was jumped by three guys after he tried to break up a fight between two women, or was jumped by six guys after one of them began pushing a woman around - and had a bottle smashed over his head in the process! What, he deserved this for hand-cuffing a firefighter at an accident scene? You guys need to get over yourselves.
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Jump right in, Ted. They deserve it more than the cop.
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Permalink Reply by Doug on
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I'm with WestPhilly and Ted on this one, I kinda feel bad for the guy now... kinda.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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Hoo Wahhhhhh!
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