17-07-2025
Jara standoff: Police feared county supervisor's husband wanted officers to shoot him
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – It must have been a bizarre scene at around midday Saturday in the tree-lined east Bakersfield neighborhood, with a police SWAT unit, a county mental health team, and a distraught family worried that their loved one would be hurt – or hurt someone else.
Either or both scenarios seemed entirely possible at the time. These domestic standoffs are not uncommon, but two things set this incident apart.
One of them being, the man at the center of attention has professed, not without credible evidence, that he is a former CIA asset who had the skill to kill.
Also, Fernando Rodriguez Jara, age 49, is the husband of Kern County supervisor Leticia Perez. He is in custody, charged with a felony – making death threats – and two misdemeanors – child cruelty and resisting arrest.
It could have been so much worse.
Perez, who has represented the Fifth Supervisorial District since 2013, called Kern County Behavioral Health to their home on Alta Vista Drive at about around 11 a.m. July 12 and asked them to check the welfare of her husband of 14 years, who she said was experiencing a 'severe mental health episode,' according to the police report.
Perez said her husband suffered from PTSD, and had not taken his antipsychotic medication for months.
Then, according to Perez's chief of staff, Christian Romo, she took their two boys and went to a relative's house around the corner.
Mail carrier accused of stealing Menards rebates enters guilty plea
Perez later told police Jara had been acting strangely all day, at one point calling her a 'pedophile' and a member of the Lords of Bakersfield sexual abuse ring. She said her husband claimed Elon Musk had inserted a microchip in his brain.
When Bakersfield police arrived at 11:40 a.m., Jara was sitting on the home's front porch behind a wrought iron gate.
Perez told officers that Jara had CIA hand-combat training, had served undercover in the Middle East, and could turn anything into a weapon.
Officers observed that Jara had a broom and the partially broken coffee mug was at his feet.
When Officers heard Jara praying, they became even more concerned. According to the police report: 'Jara made statements about wanting to force officers to use deadly force on him, and now he was heard praying.'
After Jara assumed an aggressive stance, as if he were contemplating making a charge at them, they decided to act. They deployed two Taser darts, incapacitating Jara. Five officers charged him and, after a struggle, they handcuffed him.
Jara is being held on $100,000 bail. He was arraigned Tuesday and is due back in court later this month.
Perez did not respond to a request for comment. 17 News contacted other known associates of Jara's, who either declined to comment or did not respond.
A neighbor who declined to go on camera said Jara was friendly – and she hopes he gets the medical attention he needs.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Solve the daily Crossword
