Lengthy pursuit ends in arrest
Two men jailed, with bail set at $2,500,000
Two men, Jesus Estevan Vargas Jr., 41, of Moreno Valley, and Roy Ha, 27, of Las Vegas, are being held at the Mendocino County Jail with bail set at $2,500,000, following a Sunday pursuit off Highway 20 near Potter Valley.
Charges against the two include armed robbery, kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, and in Ha’s case attempted murder.
A third unnamed suspect, who has not yet been identified and was described only as an “adult male,” suffered a reportedly selfinflicted gunshot wound to the head during the pursuit. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday that he “received emergency life-saving surgery at an out- of- county hospital and is alive at this time. He has yet to be booked into the Mendocino County Jail and he is under guard watch at the hospital pending any future release.”
The MCSO reported that the incident appeared to be related to a marijuana sale/purchase transaction that occurred Sunday morning near Willits. The following information is based on an MCSO press release.
On Sunday, just after 10 a.m., a Cal Fire law enforcement prevention officer contacted a man on Highway 162 about half-a-mile from its intersection with Highway 101. The man reported being the victim of an armed robbery which had occurred about 20 minutes earlier. He said there were three or four suspects armed with assault weapon style rifles and who were dressed in body
armor. The suspects had potentially fled south in a black Chevrolet Tahoe and gray Toyota Tacoma.
This information was broadcast by radio to onduty personnel with the Mendocino County Sheriff ’s Office, California Highway Patrol and Ukiah Police Department.
A Sheriff’s Office sergeant was on routine patrol on Highway 20 east of Potter Valley when he saw two vehicles matching the suspect vehicle descriptions.
He attempted a traffic stop on the black Chevrolet Tahoe, which failed to stop and instead accelerated to speeds over 100 mph. A vehicle pursuit was initiated with the assistance of the CHP.
The Tahoe continued several miles east on Hwy. 20 before making a U-turn and heading west on the highway for a short time before turning onto a rural parcel of property near mile post marker 41, which was on the east side of the highway.
The Tahoe continued along a dirt road which led up into the wooded hillside. Fearing an ambush, the sergeant discontinued the pursuit and began to establish a search perimeter.
During the pursuit, a deputy responding to assist the sergeant was able to conduct a traffic stop on the Toyota Tacoma.
The deputy identified the driver as being Jesus Estevan Vargas Jr. and a subsequent investigation resulted in his arrest in connection with the reported armed robbery.
During the establishment of the search perimeter, the sergeant learned of a possible exit point to the east along Hwy. 101, and went there to intercept the Tahoe.
A short time later, gunshots were heard and then a person was heard screaming. Sometime thereafter, law enforcement personnel on the search perimeter were contacted by two men, and learned the men had been kidnapped during the armed robbery and had been bound by zip-ties and their heads covered.
They reported the Tahoe had become disabled on the dirt road and one of the male victims was shot in the back while trying to escape. They reported the two suspects fled on foot, were armed with assault style rifles and clothed in body armor.
The victim with the gunshot wound to the back of his shoulder was transported by air ambulance to an out- of- county hospital for medical treatment.
Based upon the circumstances of the situation, a request was made for the Mendocino County MultiAgency SWAT team who later arrived on scene.
The SWAT team utilized the armored Citizen Rescue Vehicle (CRV) and drove to the area of the disabled Chevrolet Tahoe. At the same time, H-14 (a CHP helicopter) began providing aerial assistance to the SWAT team.
As H-14 conducted overflight operations they were able to locate one of the suspects, later identified as Roy Ha, in the wooden terrain uphill from the disabled Tahoe. Ha disarmed himself and surrendered to the SWAT team by walking downhill to their position.
H-14 continued overflight operations and located the second suspect near where the first suspect was first observed. H-14 was able to identify the second suspect as being armed with a handgun and a rifle.
Sometime thereafter, several gunshots were heard which were attributed to the second suspect and H-14 continued to observe his location.
During this time, H-14 radioed to the SWAT team that the suspect had possibly suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound but was still moving, which showed he was alive and still a potential danger as he was still armed.
As H-14 began to exhaust its fuel, a mutual aid request was sent to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office for its helicopter, Henry-1, which subsequently arrived on scene. When H-14 left for refueling, Henry-1 assumed overflight operations and assisted SWAT team members in safely approaching the second suspect.
After refueling, H-14 was able to return to the scene to provide further assistance as Henry-1 was exhausting its fuel.
The SWAT team was able to take the second suspect into custody and noticed he needed immediate medical treatment due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.
A SWAT team medic began life-saving treatment, and the second suspect was immediately transported by Sheriff’s Office vehicle to the staging area near Highway 101 where an ambulance and H-14 were waiting. The second suspect was prepped for flight and H-14 transported him to an out- ofcounty hospital for medical treatment.
Sheriff’s detectives are conducting ongoing investigations into the reported robbery and kidnapping. At this time it appears the robbery and kidnapping were connected to a marijuana sale/purchase transaction between the involved individuals.
One law enforcement member experienced a heat-related emergency at the conclusion of the several hour event and had to be transported to Adventist Health-ukiah Valley by ambulance where he was treated and released. There were no other law enforcement injuries and no shots were fired by law enforcement personnel.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office expressed thanks to the following agencies for their assistance: Cal Fire ( prevention officer), the California Highway Patrol, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, the Ukiah Police Department, Medstar Ambulance and the Potter Valley Fire Department.