BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — The Kern County Coroner’s Office has identified the teen killed in the crash on Highway 178 following a pursuit with law enforcement in a reported stolen vehicle as 14-year-old Jabranden Embry Brooks.
The Bakersfield Police Department said on January 25, 2026, at around 5:17 p.m., officers found a previously reported stolen vehicle in the area of Flower Street and King Street.
RELATED: Stolen vehicle pursuit ends in crash on Hwy. 178, killing one juvenile, two others injured
Bakersfield police said the vehicle involved, a 2014 Hyundai Sonata, had been reported stolen earlier that day from a parking lot near the Target at Valley Plaza. According to police, witnesses saw several juveniles near the vehicle as alarms were sounding, and then saw it being driven away at a high rate of speed.
Police said the suspect’s vehicle led officers on a pursuit. When the vehicle reached eastbound Highway 178, the suspect vehicle reached speeds that were unsafe and the pursuit was terminated.
According to police, the suspect’s vehicle then hit the guardrail on eastbound Highway 178 west of the Baker Street overpass shortly thereafter, and the three juveniles of the vehicle were all ejected.
Emergency personnel responded and took the driver and two passengers to Kern Medical.
The driver of the vehicle died, and two others sustained severe injuries.
Three juveniles were severely injured after crashing a reported stolen vehicle into a guardrail on Highway 178 while allegedly leading officers on a pursuit Sunday night. PHOTO: KBAK/KBFX
The coroner’s office identified the teen killed as Jabranden Embry Brooks of Bakersfield. The report said he was taken to Kern Medical where he later died.
The Bakersfield Police Department is investigating this incident in accordance with the department’s critical incident policy. The two officers involved in the pursuit have been placed on routine, paid administrative leave.