Coroner's office IDs senior KCSO deputy who took his own life
The Kern County coroner's office on Thursday identified the senior sheriff's deputy who took his own life Tuesday in a dirt lot north in Shafter.
Bakersfield resident Benjamin Alan Michael Harmonson, age 36, was found dead from gunshot injuries at 2:48 p.m. outside a parked vehicle north of 7th Standard Road west of Verdugo Lane, the coroner's office reported in a news release Thursday morning. It judged his manner of death a suicide.
State records and KCSO statements indicate Harmonson started his career with the Kern County Sheriff's Office as a deputy trainee on July 19, 2008, before becoming a full deputy on Jan. 17, 2009. They show he was promoted to senior deputy sheriff assigned to the Tehachapi substation on Nov. 5, 2022. On March 8, 2023, he was promoted again to become a supervisor within the department.
KCSO records show he has served as a bomb technicion with the agency’s bomb squad. He was named Rosamond deputy of the year in 2013.
Dozens of law enforcement vehicles came to the scene of Harmonson's death Tuesday, and many of them participated in a procession when his body was delivered to the coroner's office.
KCSO spokeswoman Lori Meza said Thursday the department is not prepared to speak on the matter.
"This is not something we've ever dealt with before," she said.
