CONCORD — Videos released Monday by Concord police appear clearly to show that a man they shot after a bank robbery, a lengthy pursuit to San Jose and several carjacking attempts was holding a gun.
Concord police released a statement along with the videos they’ve collected in their ongoing investigation into the April 21 police shooting. The gunfire came after a pursuit that took officers from Concord down southbound Interstate 680 and onto the streets of San Jose.
Cruz Vargas, 29, of San Jose, recovered from a gunshot wound after the incident. Contra Costa County prosecutors have charged him with multiple counts of armed robbery and carjacking, along with multiple weapons violations, according to court records.
Police identified the officer who shot him as Sgt. Francisco Ramirez. They identified one of the other Concord officers involved in the pursuit as Cpl. Shaun Parsley.
Authorities identified Vargas’ cohort in the car during the pursuit as 21-year-old Elijah Phillips, of San Jose. According to court records, prosecutors also charged Phillips with multiple counts of armed robbery and carjacking and one count of being in possession of a machine gun.
The video released Monday shows the vehicle, allegedly driven by Vargas, crossing double-yellow lines and crashing into another car on Marbury Road in San Jose. Video showed both suspects running from the car in different directions after the crash.
All of the drama stemmed from a robbery at the Diablo Valley Federal Credit Union in the 1000 block of Detroit Avenue in Concord. Video released by police shows two men, wearing gray hoodies and fully masked, entering the credit union at 9:42 a.m. with guns in view. Video shows the tellers quickly gathering handfuls of cash and handing them over to the men.
Authorities said Vargas and Phillips drove off after the robbery, and police said officers spotted them and started a pursuit near Monument and Buskirk avenues. The pursuit entered southbound Interstate 680 and went uninterrupted until reaching the Sunol Grade, where there was heavy traffic.
The suspects’ vehicle became disabled; police said the two suspects then tried to carjack one vehicle unsuccessfully before successfully taking a second one at gunpoint.
Cell phone video recorded by the second victim and released by police showed both suspects forcing the first victim from a Tesla. That driver disabled the electric vehicle, and it went nowhere, police said. The suspect then turned his attention to the second vehicle, commandeering it successfully as two people inside jumped out.
Cpl. Parsley arrived to the Sunol scene moments after the victims in the second car escaped. Video shows Parsley running after the two men with his gun drawn and barking commands to show their hands and stop, but they drove away.
Police continued pursuing the stolen vehicle into San Jose. Video from Sgt. Hernandez’s patrol car showed the suspects speed into a right-hand turn from Lundy Avenue and merge into oncoming traffic on westbound Berryessa Avenue. According to the video, the chase reached a speed of about 70 mph.
Shortly after that, the chase ended up on Marbury Road, where the crash happened as the suspects were driving the wrong way on a two-lane road next to U.S. 101.
Vargas ran on Marbury Road, with Sgt. Hernandez and an unidentified Concord officer pursuing him, according to video and Concord police. Phillips can briefly be seen fleeing on foot in a different direction after the crash. Video shows the suspect thought to be Vargas running down Marbury Road holding a gun, ignoring commands by Sgt. Hernandez to “get on the ground, get on the (bleeping) ground!”
The suspect briefly grabs the door handle of a passing car, then keeps running. Police cars follow him as he runs, slowing.
As cars continue passing in the other direction, the suspect suddenly runs to the drivers side door. He briefly drops the gun next to the car, pulls unsuccessfully on the car door, then picks up the gun again and begins running away. A shot rings out and he falls near the rear of the car. He runs a short distance before stopping and kneeling on the ground, where he is tackled by officers.
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Officers caught and arrested Phillips on Timothy Drive in San Jose, police said.
In their statement, police said Sgt. Hernandez also used his cell phone to communicate with dispatchers during the incident “due to the police radio working intermittingly.”
The shooting marked the third incident this year in which Concord police officers have fired their weapons. Officers shot and killed 47-year-old Nathan Keesler, of Antioch, on Feb. 18, after they said he attacked his father at a home in the 1900 block of Natoma Boulevard.
Police fired shots at 37-year-old Eric Foreman, of Richmond, as they pursued him on April 3. Authorities allege that Foreman fled a traffic stop and that video shows him reaching for a gun.