A suspected commercial burglar and armed felon was shot multiple times by Costa Mesa police during a burglary incident.
The suspect, 35-year-old Hugo Standley Vargas of Corona, was fired upon after approaching officers while armed with a rifle. “Vargas is currently in stable condition and is expected to survive,” according to Costa Mesa Police. “Vargas was later taken into custody for multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon upon a police officer, commercial burglary, and felon in possession of a firearm.”
The incident began around 5:15 a.m. on July 13th, when a burglary alarm notified police of a potential break-in at a business in the 2200 block of Newport Boulevard. Officers arrived to find a shattered glass door and noises coming from inside the building.
They then encountered Vargas in the lobby, armed with a knife and refusing to drop it. Vargas ignored officers’ commands to surrender and instead withdraw father inside the office so that he was no longer visible.
While officers waited and prepared to extract Vargas from the building, he suddenly emerged, now with a rifle in hand. “Officers, fearing for their safety and wanting to stop the threat Vargas created, discharged their duty weapons,” according to police. “Vargas was struck multiple times and dropped the rifle.”
Vargas received medical aid at the scene before being transported to a local hospital for treatment. No officers were harmed during the incident.
“As per protocol, the Orange County District Attorney Special Assignments Unit responded to the scene and will handle this officer involved shooting investigation. The scene is currently being processed and this is an active investigation.”
