“No one knows these mountains better than Matt,“ Matthew K. Barr’s father said proudly. We talked during his son’s 14-hour stand-off with a Kern County Sheriff’s SWAT team on Thursday, March 23-24.
Matt Barr grew up hiking and climbing in the hills and mountains of the Los Padres National Forest surrounding the Pine Mountain community. His zeal for physical fitness is, in part, an attempt to balance a health challenge he has wrestled with since he was a young boy.

Recently it has gotten him into trouble, big trouble.

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By Patric Hedlund, TME

2:56 p.m. • March 23, 2017

I responded to a location in the 2000 block of lower Linden Drive in the Pine Mountain community. As I drive, a string of cars heading in the opposite direction passes me. One is a large RV. A woman with a very grim expression is at the wheel. This type of traffic is rarely seen on these streets. Clearly these people are departing the area I am driving into.

Shortly after I arrive at the scene, my office tells me that law enforcement began evacuating houses in the area about 20 minutes earlier. We’d been told that a man with a warrant for his arrest is in his home, refusing to come out.

Background

The day before, March 22, sheriff’s deputies were searching for Matthew Barr, 36. He is known to be a mountaineer, often…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Linden Drive, March 23, 2017, about 3:20 p.m

Kevin Barr takes off down a hill to try to reach his son. A deputy with a rifle and a CHP officer brought him back.

Across the sheriff’s tape, Kevin Barr asks Deputy Nelson if a negotiator…

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This is part of the March 31, 2017 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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