{"id":464168,"date":"2026-09-15T05:46:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T05:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464168\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T05:46:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T05:46:43","slug":"cruizin-4-charity-highlights-community-side-of-bakersfield-car-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/464168\/","title":{"rendered":"CRUIZIN\u2019 4 CHARITY HIGHLIGHTS COMMUNITY SIDE OF BAKERSFIELD CAR CULTURE"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 A woman was seriously injured after she was struck by a pickup truck in a hit-and-run crash on Niles Street late Friday night.<\/a><\/p>\n

The California Highway Patrol said officers were called around 11:40 p.m. Sept. 11 to the area of 6465 Niles Street. Investigators said an early- or late-model 1990s pickup truck struck a 46-year-old woman, then left before officers arrived. She was taken to Kern Medical with severe injuries.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A woman suffered severe injuries after an unidentified pickup truck struck her on Niles Street and drove away from the scene late Friday night. PHOTO: KNN.NEWS<\/p>\n

Social media posts following the crash claimed a street takeover may have happened in the area. Authorities have not confirmed a takeover.<\/p>\n

The incident has sparked a larger conversation about the difference between street takeovers and Bakersfield\u2019s car culture.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A woman suffered severe injuries after an unidentified pickup truck struck her on Niles Street and drove away from the scene late Friday night. PHOTO: KNN.NEWS<\/p>\n

Tony Castiglione, founder and president of Cruizin\u2019 4 Charity<\/a>, said his love for cars began as a teenager, when he and his friends shared an interest in muscle cars such as Mustangs, Camaros and Chargers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, it was about hanging out together, working on each other\u2019s cars, learning together about what we could do to these cars,\u201d Castiglione said.<\/p>\n

Castiglione said street takeovers should not be viewed as representative of local car clubs or car culture as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s not really a fair representation of the car culture or the car club communities as a whole,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"KBAK\/KBFX\"<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that he and his friends also took part in dangerous behavior when they were younger, saying people may not fully consider the consequences until someone gets hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re at that age, you don\u2019t think about that stuff. It isn\u2019t until, unfortunately, something bad happens that gets you that opportunity to kind of look back and go, \u2018Gosh, maybe this is not such a great idea,\u2019\u201d Castiglione said.<\/p>\n

Castiglione described street takeovers as people trying to take over and control a public space. He contrasted that with organized car events, which he said can bring people together and support local causes.<\/p>\n

Cruizin\u2019 4 Charity is a nonprofit organization that puts on car events to support local charities. Its website says the organization has donated more than $225,000 to date, benefiting community charities in Bakersfield.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"KBAK\/KBFX\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe invite all years, makes and models because I want the younger generation to get a sense of what this car culture is about,\u201d Castiglione said. \u201cIt\u2019s more than being out there doing street races. It\u2019s about the camaraderie of being together with one another and supporting a common cause.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruizin\u2019 4 Charity\u2019s three-day event is set for Oct. 8 through Oct. 10. Castiglione said burnouts and donuts are not allowed during the organized cruise, and organizers use barriers around the event area as part of their safety plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 A woman was seriously injured after she was struck by a pickup truck in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-464168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464168","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=464168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}