A teenager was critically injured Saturday during the Howlin' at the Moon Run fundraiser for Bakersfield Police Department's K-9 unit. Friends of the boy's family say he is in critical condition after accidently running off the course the family says wasn't clearly marked.
For eight years, the Howlin' at the Moon run has been a “fun run” to raise money for the Bakersfield Police Department’s K-9 Unit. It takes place after the sun goes down, but this year's run ended with sirens and bright lights.
Chancell Tyler Conde, 17, was running along the course and took a wrong turn, ending up on the busy intersection of Calloway Drive near Stockdale Highway. He was struck by a car.
A friend of the family says Conde is an experienced runner but didn't know the race course well because he lives in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar most of the year.
Detective Mary DeGeare of the Bakersfield Police Department says glow necklaces were used to help light the way.
“The course was marked with these glow necklaces so at points on the course where it was very dark the glow necklaces were supposed to guide the way,” DeGeare said. “The investigation is ongoing so we don’t know why he went up to Calloway Drive but certainly if we have the race next year we will make modifications.”
Runners told 17 News the glow necklaces were missing when they reached the forked pathways, and the teenager was just one of many who went off course. Most of the runners who spoke to 17 News were from the area and knew the path well but were still confused when they reached the split paths because it was so dark out. Several othere runners reportedly picked up the glow necklaces while the race was ongoing, making it hard to see which path was correct.
Bill Dolan has been riding on the path since the late 80s and rides on the path at night only if he has his bike light attached.
“Because there's no lights around here it really is hard for a bicyclist without a headlight,” Dolan explained. “A runner might get by but I can see how they could miss things that they need to see here.”
Dolan says at planned night-time events, like the run, extra signs, volunteers, or lights should be put in place to direct runners to the right path.
Police say the driver who struck Conde was 19-year old Casey Geiger. Geiger, suspected of being under the influence of marijuana, was tested and released pending the drug test results.
Online court records show Geiger pled no contest to charges from a misdemeanor battery arrest last year and was arrested in October on suspicion of misdemeanor possession and use of a controlled substance.
A family friend of the Condes tells 17News Chancell Conde is in critical condition at Kern Medical Center and will be in surgery late tonight or tomorrow.
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