{"id":155713,"date":"2026-01-30T00:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T00:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/155713\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T00:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T00:27:10","slug":"2-arrested-targeted-major-retailers-in-dozens-of-thefts-in-bakersfield-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/155713\/","title":{"rendered":"2 arrested targeted major retailers in dozens of thefts in Bakersfield: police"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 Two people were arrested for allegedly committing multiple thefts at local retailers, according to the Bakersfield Police Department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">On Jan. 20, BPD\u2019s Organized Retail Theft unit arrested Christopher Bleakley, 24, and Cole Hernandez, 30, during a blitz operation in the 1600 block of Columbus Street.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a class=\"link  yahoo-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/knife-wielding-suspect-argued-goodwill-200122796.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Knife-wielding suspect argued with Goodwill employees: Bakersfield PD;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Knife-wielding suspect argued with Goodwill employees: Bakersfield PD <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The unit had recently concluded an investigation into two serial retail theft suspects who targeted several retailers, including Target, dd\u2019s DISCOUNTS\u2019 and Lowe\u2019s, according to officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bleakley was allegedly involved in 18 separate thefts resulting in a $12,925.71 loss to retailers while Hernandez is accused of being involved in 14 theft incidents and causing a loss of $6,365.05 to retailers, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Bleakley was booked into the Kern County Jail on suspicion of grand theft, brandishing a weapon, possessing a narcotic, shoplifting, robbery and resisting arrest, according to investigators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Hernandez was booked on suspicion of grand theft, fraud and identity theft, organized retail theft, conspiring to commit a crime and possessing a controlled substance, BPD said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.kget.com\/plus\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Watch \u2018After Sunrise\u2019 on KGET+; Click to learn how to get KGET+ on your smart TV devices;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\"> Watch \u2018After Sunrise\u2019 on KGET+; Click to learn how to get KGET+ on your smart TV devices <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Organized Retail Theft unit has been working with local retail stores to combat crimes in Bakersfield since it was created in 2023, according to the police department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Business owners who wish to learn more about theft prevention and partnering with the unit are encouraged to call 661-326-3053.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kget.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 Two people were arrested for allegedly committing multiple thefts at local retailers, according to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152,324,76317,76316,2836,2839],"class_list":{"0":"post-155713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news","11":"tag-bakersfield-police-department","12":"tag-christopher-bleakley","13":"tag-cole-hernandez","14":"tag-retail-theft","15":"tag-retailers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}