14 hours ago
Video released of alleged Bay Area crime spree that ended in police shooting
Police in Concord have released camera footage in connection with an alleged crime spree earlier this year, which police said included an armed robbery, multiple carjackings and an officer shooting a suspect following a 50-mile pursuit to San Jose.
On Friday, the department released a video presentation featuring footage of the incident, which took place on the morning of April 21. Two men, identified as 29-year-old Cruz Vargas and 21-year-old Elijah Phillips, were arrested and charged following the incident.
According to officers, the incident began around 9:40 a.m., when two masked men were seen entering the Diablo Valley Credit Union on Detroit Avenue in Concord. Footage showed the two men robbing the tellers at gunpoint and taking an undisclosed amount of cash.
Following the robbery, a Concord police officer found their vehicle on Monument Boulevard near Interstate 680 and initiated a pursuit.
Police said the suspects headed southbound on I-680. In Sunol, the suspects hit heavy traffic and their vehicle became disabled.
In traffic, the suspects were then seen carjacking a Tesla at gunpoint but were unable to get away after the driver was able to disable his vehicle.
Police said the pair then carjacked a second vehicle. The occupants inside the second vehicle, a mother and her two children, were able to escape unharmed.
A Concord police corporal on a motorcycle pulled up as the suspects drove away. Body worn camera video then shows the corporal checking in on the carjacking victims.
Police continued the pursuit into San Jose and onto surface streets. Video from an officer's dashcam shows the suspects in the carjacked vehicle running multiple red lights and reaching speeds exceeding 60 miles per hour.
After briefly losing sight of the vehicle, the officer continued the pursuit to Mabury Road, where the suspects crashed.
Video shows the suspects running from the area. One of the suspects, who appears to be carrying a handgun with a high-capacity drum magazine, attempted to carjack a third vehicle before he was shot by an officer.
Footage from a dashcam that purportedly shows a suspect, later identified as Cruz Vargas, attempting to carjack a vehicle before he was shot by a Concord Police officer following a pursuit from Concord to San Jose on April 21, 2025.
Concord Police Department
The suspect, later identified as Vargas, ran a short distance before being taken into custody. Vargas was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, San Jose police officers took Phillips into custody nearby. Police said he was found in possession of money from the credit union.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office has filed multiple charges against Vargas including three counts of felony robbery, felony evading, two counts of carjacking, attempted carjacking, possession of a machine gun and hit-and-run.
Phillips has been charged with three counts of felony robbery, two counts of carjacking and possession of a machine gun.
Concord Police investigated the bank robbery, carjackings and pursuit that continued to San Jose, while the San Jose Police Department and Santa Clara District Attorney's Office investigated the police shooting.
According to jail records, Vargas and Phillips remain in custody. Both men are scheduled to appear in court on July 10.
