Ronald Stewart Nevius Jr - 2025

On Tuesday, September 9, 2025, at approximately 8:33 p.m., the Bakersfield Communications Center received a call of a possible traffic crash with a male laying on the ground near Lake Isabella Boulevard and Young Avenue. CHP Kern Valley and KCSO units responded to the scene and determined this was a traffic crash involving a vehicle vs. pedestrian.

A preliminary investigation indicates a dark blue sport utility vehicle (SUV) was traveling southbound on Lake Isabella Boulevard and was making a left turn onto eastbound Young Avenue at an unknown speed. As the dark blue SUV traveled onto eastbound Young Avenue, at the same time, a 65-year-old male was crouched down on the eastbound side of Young Avenue east of Lake Isabella Boulevard, directly in the path of the SUV. For reasons still under investigation, the driver of the SUV struck the pedestrian with the front of the vehicle. The pedestrian sustained major injuries and was transported to Kern Valley Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. The driver of the SUV failed to remain at the scene and fled the area in an unknown direction.

This investigation is ongoing, and the CHP is asking the community’s assistance in seeking the driver or any occupants of the blue SUV involved in this fatal hit and run traffic crash. The Kern Secret Witness Program is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information, which may lead to the arrest of the driver.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to call the California Highway Patrol at (661) 396-6600, or Secret Witness at (661) 322-4040.