Illegal, Unethical, and Happening in Bakersfield: What ‘Capping’ Is and Why You Should Never Give Information to a Stranger at a Crash Scene

Bakersfield police are warning drivers not to give their personal or insurance information to two men who have been showing up at crash scenes across the city.

The behavior has a name, it is illegal, and it is not limited to those two men, said Chris Hagan, partner and attorney at the Law Office of Chain | Cohn | Clark. According to police, the men claimed they were collecting driver information for insurance purposes. When officers arrived on scene, the men left.

“I will say that it just wreaks of capping,” Hagan said. “They have no reason to be responding to accident scenes and asking people for personal information, other than to take that information and to sell it to another lawyer.”

What Is a Capper and Why Should You Care

The term “capper” refers to someone who solicits accident victims on behalf of attorneys, collecting personal information, contact details, or photographs and selling that information for a referral fee. The practice is illegal in California and ethically prohibited for licensed attorneys. But it happens, and Bakersfield has become a target for it.

California Penal Code 646.6 makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly and directly solicit an injured person, or someone acting on their behalf, to sell or allow the use of photographs from an accident that caused injury or death. The law reflects a recognition that crash victims, in the immediate aftermath of a collision, are vulnerable and deserve protection from those who would exploit that vulnerability for financial gain.

Hagan, who has been practicing law for more than 20 years, said that while the law exists, enforcement has been limited in practice.

“There is not much policing of it,” he said.

Cappers operate in the space between what the law prohibits and what authorities actively pursue, and the people they target most often do not know that what is happening to them is illegal, let alone that they have any recourse.

The Bakersfield Warning

Bakersfield Police Department’s warning about Jara Lopez and Gianfranco Lopez named a specific and documented pattern: appearing at multiple crash scenes, approaching those involved, asking for personal identifying information, and departing before law enforcement arrived. That last detail, leaving when officers showed up, is not incidental. It reflects an awareness that what they were doing would not withstand scrutiny.

BPD urged drivers not to share personal or insurance information with the men, and encouraged anyone who encounters them to call 661-327-7111.

Hagan said the behavior described in the police warning is consistent with what cappers do, and the community-level warning from BPD was appropriate and necessary.

“These people that are hiring cappers out there, number one, they’re not from town,” Hagan said. “There’s all these carpet-bagging L.A. lawyers that are coming up here and that’s what they’re doing in our community.”

An Extreme Example

Hagan also pointed to a case that illustrates how brazen capper-adjacent behavior can become when it goes unchecked: an attorney who was accused of driving a Lamborghini in Nevada with a large amount of cash, approaching crash victims directly to tell them he could help them, and posting the activity on social media.

That level of open solicitation is unusual. But it reflects what can happen when the ethical and legal boundaries around attorney advertising and client solicitation are treated as suggestions rather than requirements.

California’s Rules of Professional Conduct, which govern licensed attorneys in the state, prohibit direct in-person solicitation of prospective clients when a significant motive is the lawyer’s pecuniary gain and the person has not sought out the lawyer. The rules also prohibit attorneys from compensating a person to solicit clients on their behalf. These are not technical requirements buried in fine print. They are foundational ethical obligations that protect the public from predatory legal practices.

“As lawyers, despite what people may think of us, there are certain ethical boundaries that we have to operate within,” Hagan said. “Our ethical rules provide that we, as lawyers, cannot directly go out and solicit people for business. Nor can we pay people to go out and solicit business directly from accident victims for us.”

What This Means for Crash Victims in Bakersfield

For anyone who has been in a car accident in Bakersfield or anywhere in Kern County, the warning from both BPD and from Hagan carries practical significance.

The moments immediately following a crash are disorienting. There is physical and emotional shock, confusion about what to do, and often significant pressure from the other driver, insurance adjusters, and, as the BPD warning makes clear, sometimes strangers who appear at the scene claiming authority or expertise they do not have. In that environment, the impulse to let someone take charge and handle things can be strong.

The information a person shares at a crash scene matters. Insurance information handed to someone who is not an officer, not a representative of the other driver’s insurer, and not someone the crash victim has deliberately chosen to work with can end up in the hands of an attorney the victim never selected, working in that attorney’s interests rather than the victim’s. The referral-fee arrangement that underlies capping means the capper is compensated for the connection, not for the quality of the legal representation that follows.

Choosing a personal injury attorney is one of the most important decisions a crash victim makes. It should be made deliberately, with time to research, to ask questions, and to evaluate whether the attorney’s background and track record fit the specific circumstances of the case. It should not be made in the immediate aftermath of a collision because someone approached and offered a business card.

“These are not lawyers you want to work with,” Hagan said.

How to Protect Yourself

The BPD warning and Hagan’s comments point toward a clear set of guidelines for anyone involved in a crash in Bakersfield.

At the scene, share information only with the other driver involved in the crash and with law enforcement officers. Provide your driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance to the other driver as required by law. Do not provide that information to bystanders, people who approach claiming to be insurance representatives, or anyone who was not involved in the crash and does not have a badge.

If someone approaches you at a crash scene asking for personal or insurance information, you are not obligated to provide it.

When it comes to legal representation, take the time to make a considered choice. Look at the attorney’s background, their track record in cases similar to yours, their connection to the community, and whether they communicate clearly and honestly about what your case involves and what you can realistically expect. An attorney who was referred to you by a stranger at a crash scene has already raised a serious question about their professional ethics before the representation has even begun.

“I’m just going to tell the people watching this news story,” Hagan said. “These are not lawyers you want to work with.”

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If you or someone you know is injured in an accident at the fault of someone else, or injured on the job no matter whose fault it is, contact the attorneys at Chain | Cohn | Clark by calling (661) 323-4000, or fill out a free consultation form, text, or chat with us at chainlaw.com. 

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MEDIA COVERAGE

• Lawyer says BPD warning about men at crash scenes fits description of ‘cappers’ (Bakersfield Eyewitness News)