MADD Kern County Recognizes Law Enforcement, Community Efforts In Combating Impaired Driving

Impaired driving continues to be a leading cause of death and injuries in the United States, but law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and community members fight every day toward making our roadways safer.

That was Mothers Against Drunk Driving‘s message during the Kern County Law Enforcement and Prosecutor Recognition Awards ceremony, sponsored and organized in part by Chain | Cohn | Clark, which honored dozens of local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and other community members for their valiant efforts in helping stop DUI crimes during the past year.

Kern County sees at least 4,000 DUI arrests made each year — that’s more than 11 DUI arrests per day. For the rate of DUI-related fatal collisions per 100,000 people, Kern County ranks highest in the state and second highest in the nation.

“Impaired driving continues to claim countless lives and inflict grievous injuries,” said Matt Clark, attorney and managing partner for Chain | Cohn | Clark. “We extend our resounding applause to honor the unwavering commitment by our law enforcement and community members in the pursuit of safer roadways.”

Chain | Cohn | Clark was proud to be an organizer, sponsor, and supporter of this event, and the law firm has been a longtime partner of MADD and MADD Kern County. Clark is a founding board member for the local chapter of MADD and is a recipient of the “Pursuit of Justice” award by MADD California. He regularly speaks to DUI offenders during the MADD Victim Impact Panels. Law firm marketing director Jorge Barrientos is the chairman for the annual “Walk Like MADD & MADD Dash fundraiser for MADD Kern County a 2015 “Volunteer of the Year” for MADD California. MADD Kern County honored Chain | Cohn | Clark with a “Community Champion” award in 2018 for the law firm’s work toward raising awareness locally and helping victims.

Barrientos served as an award presenter, and also discussed the upcoming Walk Like MADD & MADD Dash as the event chairman. The event aims to help innocent victims of DUI crashes, raises awareness of the DUI epidemic in our community, and helps fund MADD Kern County programs. It will take place on Saturday, Sept. 23, at Park at River Walk.

See below for a full list of MADD award winners, as well as media coverage of the awards ceremony.

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2023 MADD KERN COUNTY AWARDS

• Outstanding Prosecutor: Deputy District Attorney Tara Deal (Kern County District Attorney’s Office)
• MADD Victim Advocate: Jessica Magee
• MADD Corporate Champion: Valley Strong Credit Union
• MADD Champion: Deputy District Attorney Brandon Stallings (MADD Kern County Advisory Board)
• MADD Youth Volunteer Award: Zoe Gudino
• MADD Volunteer Award: Jeff Moffit (Associate Professor, CSU Bakersfield)
• Outstanding Officer: Chief Alex Ghazalpour (Arvin Police Department)
• Top DUI Arresting Officer: Officer Matthew Aquino (Bakersfield Police Department)

MADD KERN COUNTY DUI AWARDS

All awarded sworn peace officers receive a “23152 pin” for service over a one-year period. The pin is red to symbolize MADD’s mission, to represent the victims of impaired driving crashes, and more specifically for peace officers, to memorialize and honor those peace officers who have been injured and killed in impaired driving collisions.

The 2023 award winners, with their department and number of arrests, are:

• Officer Mitchell Gonzales – Arvin Police Department – 15
• Officer Vincente Medrano – Arvin Police Department – 22
• Officer Charanjit Singh – Bakersfield Police Department – 25
• Officer Anthony Flores – Bakersfield Police Department – 28
• Officer Aspen Resendez – Bakersfield Police Department – 30
• Officer Aaron Waddle – Bakersfield Police Department – 31
• Officer Michael Reynolds – Bakersfield Police Department – 32
• Officer Kasey Knott – Bakersfield Police Department – 36
• Officer Jose Cisneros-Quiroz – Bakersfield Police Department – 42
• Officer Joshua Sanchez – Bakersfield Police Department – 46
• Officer Jimmy Ayon – Bakersfield Police Department – 48
• Officer Johnny Moreno – Bakersfield Police Department – 48
• Officer Jeremy Wolter – Bakersfield Police Department – 55
• Officer Austin Haycock – Bakersfield Police Department – 60
• Officer Douglas Barrier – Bakersfield Police Department – 70
• Officer Jarrod Bone – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 27
• Officer Julio Villalobos – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 29
• Officer Victor Valadez – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 33
• Officer Carlo Dowling – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 35
• Officer Marco Camargo – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 41
• Officer Hermenegildo Baza – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 42
• Officer Lorenzo Valdovinos – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 44
• Officer Jesus Vazquez – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 46
• Officer Ahearn Lucas – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 48
• Officer Nicholas Barry – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 49
• Officer Johnny Romero – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 54
• Officer Ruben Sanchez – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 5
• Officer Dusty Osmanson – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 63
• Officer Jessie Velasquez – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 63
• Officer Alberto De La Torre – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 64
• Officer Dallas Plotner – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 70
• Officer Adrian Tait – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 74
• Officer Jorge Toro – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 74
• Officer Rodney Black – California Highway Patrol – Bakersfield – 84
• Officer Danny Reiswig – California Highway Patrol – Buttonwillow – 29
• Officer Ryan Grant – California Highway Patrol – Fort Tejon – 11
• Officer Dustyn LaBarbera – California Highway Patrol – Fort Tejon – 11
• Officer Hector Romero – California Highway Patrol – Fort Tejon – 12
• Officer Dustin Hubbard – California Highway Patrol – Mojave – 25
• Officer Ryan Perez – California Highway Patrol – Mojave – 27
• Officer Brandon Chitty – California Highway Patrol – Mojave – 28
• Officer Erik Davis – California Highway Patrol – Mojave – 39
• Officer Dustin Oblonsky – California Highway Patrol – Mojave – 40
• Officer Brett Carroll – California Highway Patrol – Mojave – 49
• Deputy Ryan Delahuerta – Kern County Sheriff’s Office – 4
• Deputy James Jackson – Kern County Sheriff’s Office – 4
• Officer Dale Frye – Shafter Police Department – 1
• Officer Rachel Ozaeta – Shafter Police Department – 1
• Officer Eduardo Tellez – Taft Police Department – 55
• Officer Amy Smith – Tehachapi Police Department – 4
• Officer Kevin Archuleta – Tehachapi Police Department – 6

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If you or someone you know is injured in an accident at the fault of someone else, or injured on the job no matter whose fault it is, contact the attorneys at Chain | Cohn | Clark by calling (661) 323-4000, or fill out a free consultation form, text, or chat with us at chainlaw.com.

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MEDIA COVERAGE

• MADD honors Kern County law enforcement, citizens helping to put a stop to drunk driving (KGET-17, NBC – June 22, 2023)
• MADD honors community members cracking down on intoxicated driving (The Bakersfield Californian – June 22, 2023)
• M.A.D.D. honors local law enforcement agencies for preventing people driving under the influence (Eyewitness News – June 22, 2023)