BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It all happened in the 1500 block of South Union Avenue at around 3:30 a.m. The area was dark along South Union Avenue near Ming Avenue. Every business was closed, but some caught what happened on surveillance cameras.

Claudia Nava was just arriving to work and noticed what was going on outside.

“I saw that there was a dead body, and I started to ask questions and they said that the gentlemen had been run over,” Nava said.

Bakersfield police said two Bakersfield police officers in one vehicle going northbound crashed into a pedestrian in the roadway. The pedestrian died at the scene and one of the officers suffered minor injuries.

The officers were identified by BPD as Zachary Ward and Julian Garcia. Police said Garcia was driving. Both officers have been with the department for two-years.

According to police, the officers were responding to an auto-theft in progress in downtown Bakersfield. The surveillance video shows the officers responding without their emergency lights and sirens activated. BPD Sergeant Eric Celedon confirmed the officers did not have their lights and sirens on but says that could be due to the situation.

“Depending on circumstances surrounding it, it could prompt a code response, and in some circumstances it could not,” said Celedon.

BPD would not disclose the speed of the vehicle, but the speed limit in the area is 45 miles per hour, and Celedon does not rule out the officers driving over the limit at the time.

“It’s not uncommon for police officers to drive at a whole range of speeds at any time of the day considering our profession,” Celedon said.

The victim has not been identified but those in the area say it is ridden with homelessness and have seen many homeless hit struggling with addiction.

“They do go out into the street, and you can’t stop,” Nava said.

“A person could be driving and there’s the next person behind you and sometimes you don’t have enough time to stop, and they’ll just be out there dancing and talking and moving because they are not mentally there,” said Nava.

Moses Martinez works near where the collision occurred.

“I’m not really alarmed it’s just one of those things that you pretty much hear about not only a daily basis but on a weekly basis of homeless deaths, if it’s not drugs, it’s an accident,” Martinez said. “They usually run head on to the train when it crosses the tracks so it’s not uncommon.”

But some still want answers as to how this could have happened.

“Hopefully they can do something about whoever did what they did. It is sad. The gentlemen did get run over and he is no longer with us,” said Nava.

Both officers have been placed on administrative leave and a critical incident investigation is underway.

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