More details revealed in Friday robbery, crash and assault
By THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
Deputies have identified the two suspects accused of a robbery in Mettler last week and said that one of the suspects physically and sexually assaulted a resident of a sparsely populated area southwest of Arvin before being shot by another resident.
Steven Lujan, 22, was booked on suspicion of attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, sexual battery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy and is being held on $1,275,000 bail, Kern County sheriff's deputies said. The other suspect involved in the robbery was identified as Rene Gomez, 28, who was found and arrested Tuesday and booked on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy and hit-and-run.
Deputies said they responded to an armed robbery of a convenience store in Mettler about 11 a.m. Friday. The suspects left and then crashed a short time later on North Rancho Drive just north of Teale Road.
Deputies were dispatched to a shooting at a residence in the 1600 block of Teale Road where they found Lujan suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to Kern Medical Center in critical condition, but his condition has since stabilized.
Deputies said investigators found that Lujan had entered the Teale Road residence through an open door and found the homeowner's shotgun. He confronted the homeowner and tried to shoot him, but the gun malfunctioned.
Lujan then assaulted the homeowner, deputies said, and the homeowner was able to escape from the house as one of his family members arrived. That family member retrieved a shotgun and shot and hit Lujan after Lujan raised his weapon at him while trying to steal the family member's vehicle, deputies said.
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