Social media posts allege Mayor Garcia meeting with minor

All major social media accounts for Wasco City Mayor Alex Garcia were taken down Saturday, a day after a Facebook post emerged alleging that he came to an arranged location to meet an adult posing as a 15-year-old boy “to do horrific things to the kid.”

The post, originating from a Facebook page called Bakersfield Crime Watch and written by “Davonn Bradley,” claims that Garcia arrived with “poppers for him to try, he brought condoms, marijuana,” and other sex paraphernalia. “Bradley” states in the post that he and his brother “have been setting up and playing as a 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl.”

A video accompanying the post clearly shows Garcia apparently arriving for the alleged meeting, where he is assaulted by a man who seemingly arranged it. Parts of the audio are difficult to understand, but the dialogue reveals a heated exchange:

The voice of the unknown person says, “Come on, come on. No, no, no. Stop, come here. Come here. No, come here. Come over here….Hey, Davonn, bring him over here.…. Get your — over here. I won’t hurt you if you listen, bro; I won’t hurt you….You better — listen, bro. I just want you to — talk … get your — over here … You want the police to come? … Bring your — over here. I just want to — talk … Stop. Just stand right here then … take that bag off bro … so what did you want to do (muffled) … did you want to (muffled) … hurt little kids (muffled) … yeah, you did … don’t — lie to me … that’s what you doing to little kids and — …. come on, let’s go … don’t you touch no — little boys no more, — no, come on …let’s go … I still want to ask you one more question … If you run, I swear to God, I’m going to hurt you, I got something on me that could really hurt your life right now.”

“I’m sorry. Please no. I never will,” Garcia responds when confronted in the video. He continues, “No. I won’t.” It is unclear why Garcia made these statements.

Questions remain about why Garcia showed up for the meeting, how “Bradley” arranged it, and why he and “his brother” posed as a 15-year-old boy instead of reporting any alleged crimes to the police. The nature of the threat in the video also raises concerns: “I got something on me that could really hurt your life right now.”

As of Saturday night, Garcia did not respond to telephone, email and text requests for comment on the incident, nor did “Bradley” or Bakersfield Crime Watch through Facebook.

Wasco City Manager Scott Hurlbert said of the situation on Saturday: “It’s under investigation by the Bakersfield Police Department and the City of Wasco has no comment.”

An e-mail attempt was made to contact the Bakersfield Police public information officer to find out if any police report was made on the alleged incident, but the reply was that email would be responded to on Monday.

Garcia has had at least one behavioral issue before. In May 2021, the then-mayor was arrested for driving under the influence and subsequently pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of alcohol-related reckless driving. The City Council voted to remove Garcia from his position, but he was reappointed unanimously in December for a second term as mayor.

A recently married realtor, Garcia made history as the first openly LGBTQ+ official elected in Kern County. He is currently running for Kern County Supervisor in District 4.