Crime & Safety
Castro Valley Man Arrested After Pointing Gun, Firing At 2 People
It happened during a South Bay shoplifting attempt but the gun misfired, police say. He and an alleged accomplice were later arrested.
MILPITAS, CA — Two people were arrested after a shoplifting expedition at the Great Mall in Milpitas ended with the man pointing his gun at two store loss prevention employees and pulling the trigger, according to police. The gun misfired and both suspects got away in a Mercedes. However, they were tracked down through dogged detective work through at least two cities and arrested.
The shoplifting attempt happened on July 19 just after 1:45 p.m. According to Milpitas Police, the loss prevention workers at Kohl's watched the woman push a shopping cart loaded with merchandise out an emergency exit toward a waiting Mercedes with a man at the wheel. The workers stopped the woman before she could load the stolen merchandise into the car, but that's when her accomplice fired the gun at them, police report.
Surveillance photos from Kohl's were sent to police agencies in the area. Alameda Police Department detectives identified the suspects as Miguel Tovanche of Castro Valley and Carmen Vargas of Oakland. Both were wanted for a robbery in the City of Alameda.
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Milpitas Police obtained arrest warrants for the pair, as well as a search warrant for Tovanche's Castro Valley home. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team served the search warrant on July 20 at 2 a.m. Neither suspect was at the home. Once it was deemed safe, the SWAT team turned the home over to Milpitas investigators, who report that they found evidence in the case.
Alameda Police located and arrested both Tovanche and Vargas on July 24 around 6 a.m. Milpitas Police detectives drove to Alameda to pick up the pair, who have been booked at the Santa Clara County jail. Tovanche is being held on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, and conspiracy. Vargas is facing potential burglary and conspiracy charges.
Find out what's happening in Castro Valleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In announcing the arrests, Milpitas Police thanked the Alameda Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff's Office for their help in solving this case.
-Images via Milpitas Police
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