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The incident began around 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 5, in Suffolk County when a woman called the Riverhead Police to report that a man had just attempted to carjack her vehicle, said Detective Michael Schmidt of the Riverhead Police.
According to Schmidt, a 67-year-od woman called 911 to report that a Hispanic man had just attempted to forcibly remove her from her vehicle in the TJ Maxx shopping Plaza located on Route 58 in Riverhead.
As she was on the phone with the police, she saw the same man approach another vehicle and watched as a woman climbed out the passenger side door of a 2021 Toyota Highlander.
The man, identified as Jan Carlos Vargas, age 32, undomiciled, exited the parking lot onto Route 58 in an eastbound direction.
Responding units located and interviewed the original female caller and the 10-year-old female passenger of the Toyota.
She reports that she had been sitting in the vehicle waiting for her mother to finish shopping when Vargas got into the vehicle and began yelling at her and demanded that she get out.
A description of the Vargas and the vehicle was broadcast and a short time later, the Toyota was located by a uniformed sergeant patrolling the area to the rear of 55 West Main Street in Riverhead.
The sergeant was then approached by a 79-year-old Riverhead man, who said that Vargas has pulled up in the Toyota and approached him as he was sitting in a 2005 Chevy Avalanch.
Vargas grabbed the man and demanded that he exit the vehicle. When the driver exited, Vargas drove off in an unknown direction.
The description of Vargas and the second vehicle were then broadcast to area departments.
The Riverhead Detective Division initiated an investigation into the incident and during the course of the investigation, surveillance footage was obtained, depicting the suspect and his actions.
While reviewing the footage, a uniformed officer recognized the subject in the footage as Vargas who was involved in two calls for service by the Riverhead Police Department earlier in the afternoon.
At approximately 7 p.m., the Suffolk County Police Department received a report of a suspicious male subject on Route 25A in Rocky Point near Patchogue Drive.
Responding units located Vargas wearing only shorts, near the roadway in an altered mental status.
Vargas indicated that he had consumed some type of hallucinogen and that he had been running from the Riverhead Police.
Vargas was arrested and transported to Mather Hospital for evaluation and later released to the custody of Riverhead Police.
He was charged with two counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery, police said.
Vargas was then transported to Riverhead Police
He is being held, pending arraignment.
The Avalanche was later recovered by a Riverhead officer where it had been abandoned in a parking lot in the Rocky Point area.
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