A 24-year-old Venezuelan national was arrested in Clearwater after a series of disturbances involving the theft and burning of an American flag and a POW/MIA flag from a local post office. As reported by WFLA, identified as Jose Canas Vargas, the incident began when he was seen removing the flags from the flagpole on Sunday.
According to authorities, after stealing the flags Vargas ran towards a gas station, where he was later apprehended in the middle of a busy road with both flags ablaze, having set the fire using a cigarette lighter and a stick; amid this act, he yelled incoherently and acted aggressively toward both traffic and officers - the scene escalated into a foot pursuit, as stated in a report by FOX 13 News. The chase led through a neighborhood where he attempted to conceal himself in a shed with two pit bulls inside and later tried and failed to steal an e-bike before being caught by police.
In a subsequent account by IONTB, it was noted that after escaping the shed, Vargas ignored verbal commands and continued to flee, even as an officer deployed a Taser which proved ineffective. Finally, after dropping the e-bike and running on foot, Vargas was apprehended and provided a false name, "Jason Gutierrez," to officers, though his identity was later confirmed through police records.
Vargas presently faces nine criminal charges including grand theft, burglary, resisting an officer, and public mutilation of a U.S. flag; the bonds for these charges sum up to $62,650, and given that Vargas was out on bond from a previous April arrest for stealing shoes, the court may resolve to detain him until trial, as indicated by FOX 13 News.
