Street takeovers in northern Kern lead to 2 arrests

Nov. 27—A man and a woman were arrested by the McFarland Police Department after a series of street takeovers that started Sunday afternoon near Lake Woollomes in Delano.

A news release from the department said the Kern County Sheriff's Office and California Highway Patrol responded at 3:23 p.m. at the lake to reports of hundreds of vehicles, as well as people driving recklessly.

The group then moved to the Walmart in Delano, it said, where the Delano Police Department dispersed the crowd and, in the process, patrol vehicles were hit by glass bottles and vandalism.

The crowd then moved to near Browning and Pond roads, where an estimated 200 vehicles and 300 to 400 people took over the area before moving again, this time under pressure from the McFarland Police Department. The release noted someone pointed a firearm-mounted laser at a police helicopter dispatched to the scene.

A call then came in that a fight had broken out at the McDonald's in the 100 block of West Sherwood Avenue, with more than 50 people inside the restaurant. As officers tried to investigate, two people involved in the altercation refused officers' commands to comply and ultimately tried running toward the parking lot.

One of the two, 22-year-old Anjanette Garcia, was arrested after a struggle, the release said. It added that 21-year-old Francisco Joaquin was also taken into custody after resisting arrest. It noted officers found a loaded semi-automatic firearm with an illegal extended magazine in his possession.

The release said Joaquin is a documented Fresno gang member and convicted felon.