Wasco Tribune - Serving the community since 1970

On Sunday, deputies assigned to the Kern County Sheriff’s Department Wasco substation were dispatched to check the welfare of a female who was believed to be with a male subject armed with a firearm.

Wasco deputies responded to the area of the 900 block of 10th Place, where the female and two males were contacted. During the investigation, Marcos Barrios, 23, of Wasco, and Steven Cortez, 31, of Bakersfield, were found to be in possession of a loaded firearm, narcotics and gang indicia.

Barrios and Cortez were arrested and booked into the Central Receiving Facility for participation in a criminal street gang, possession of a loaded firearm, illegal narcotics possession and numerous additional felony charges.

—Kern County Sheriff’s Department