HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009_12_25_09_Homicide_Belle Terrace
SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE On 12/25/09 at about 11:52 AM the Bakersfield Police Department’s Communication Center received an emergency 911 call reporting an unknown type situation and possible
victim of a knife wound at the “GMB Ice Cream Warehouse” located at 644 Belle Terrace Suite # 9. Several minutes later uniformed patrol officers responded and located numerous subjects
in and around the rear parking area of the business engaged in some sort of disturbance. All the subjects were detained at which time it was determined that several of them had sustained
various wounds which appeared to have been caused by some type of an edged weapon. One victim described as an adult male was determined to be deceased at the scene. Another adult male
suffering form an apparent knife wound was transported by Hall Ambulance to the Kern Medical Center Trauma Center were he was pronounced deceased. A third adult male subject suffering
from minor knife wounds was transported to another local area hospital and was subsequently treated and released. Finally a fourth adult male subject, who is believed to be the suspect,
was also transported to a local area hospital where he was treated and is currently being interviewed by BPD detectives. It appears at this time that the violent assault was motivated
by an argument between the victims and the suspect. Investigation determined there are possibly family ties and business relations between the involved parties. The involved business
is a retail company that distributes ice cream products throughout the community using small ice cream trucks. There does not seem to be any robbery or criminal gang involvement linked
to this incident. The deceased victims have been identified as; Moti Lal an Indian male 53 of Bakersfield and Balwinder Singh an Indian male 54 years old of Bakersfield A third victim
identified as Meeka Singh Mander an Indian male 62 years old of Bakersfield survived the assault. He was treated and released from a local hospital for minor lacerations he sustained
during the assault. Narinder Kumar an Indian male 55 of Bakersfield was subsequently determined to be responsible for the assault and was arrested for the violation of two counts of
California Penal Code Section 187 “murder” and an additional count of California Penal Code Section 245(a)(1) “assault with a deadly weapon”. He was transported and booked at the Kern
County Jail facility. It was determined that the suspect Kumar is the brother of the victim Moti Lal and that they were business associates. The exact motivation which led to the assault
is still being investigated.
The exact cause of death is pending results of an autopsy and coroner’s investigation. Any person having information on this offense is requested to contact the Bakersfield Police Department
at 327-7111 or Detective Richard Dossey at 326-3543. .