Armed robbery, carjacking charges filed against man shot in San Jose by Concord police

CONCORD — Contra Costa County prosecutors have charged two men with multiple counts of armed robbery, carjacking and weapons charges following a miles-long chase Monday that led to a police shooting in San Jose, according to authorities and court records.

The shooting injured 29-year-old Cruz Vargas, of San Jose. He is expected to recover after being hospitalized. He and 21-year-old Elijah Phillips, of San Jose, were considered suspects in a 10 a.m. armed bank robbery at the Diablo Valley Federal Credit Union in the 1000 block of Detroit Avenue.

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Court records state that prosecutors charged Vargas with two counts of felony second-degree robbery; two counts of carjacking; and one count each of attempted carjacking, fleeing a pursuing officer, possession of a machine gun, possession of a gun by someone with a prior violent conviction, exhibiting a gun in front of a peace officer, and being in illegal possession of ammunition. All of those are felonies; court records said that the carjacking and robbery charges carry gang enhancements, and the carjacking charge also has an enhancement for using a gun.

Court records state Phillips has been charged with three counts of felony second-degree robbery with gang enhancements and two counts of carjacking, with an enhancement for using a gun. Court records also state that prosecutors charged Philips with being in possession of a machine gun.

The police shooting was the third one involving Concord police in the past three months.

Officers fired at least two shots at 37-year-old Eric Foreman, of Richmond, on April 3 after police said he twice pointed a gun at them as officers pursued him when he fled a traffic stop on Ellis Street near Clayton Road. Prosecutors have charged Foreman with two counts of attempted murder, court records state.

Police fatally shot 47-year-old Nathan Keesler, of Antioch, on Feb. 18 after authorities said Keesler attacked his father at a home in the 1900 block of Natoma Drive. Video of the shooting subsequently released by police showed officers shouting several warnings at Keesler to drop a large kitchen knife he was using to stab his father before they eventually fired a total of 20 shots.

Police have not released video of the April gunfire by officers.

Vargas and Phillips ended up in San Jose after racing away from Concord police who spotted them after the robbery, Concord police Lt. Kevin Halm said in a statement. That pursuit went onto southbound Interstate 680 until it reached Sunol, where the car that Vargas and Phillips rode became disabled in heavy traffic, Halm said.

Authorities allege the two men next carjacked another driver at gunpoint and tried to escape in that person’s vehicle, Halm said. That driver disabled the vehicle; Halm said the suspects jumped out and carjacked another one.

According to Halm, the pursuit continued into San Jose until that vehicle crashed into another one and became disabled. Halm said Phillips and Vargas ran from the scene and that Vargas was seen by an officer holding in his hand a handgun that had been modified illegally to be fully automatic with a high-capacity drum magazine.

Halm said one of the officers fired at Vargas after seeing him attempt another carjacking. That shot hit Vargas, authorities said. The shooting took place on the 900 block of Timothy Drive, next to Highway 101, according to television station NBC Bay Area.

San Jose police officers called to help later found Phillips at an undisclosed location. Halm said he still had possession of the money stolen from the credit union robbery.

Halm said investigators later learned Vargas was on parole for a prior carjacking conviction and that Phillips had active warrants for domestic violence and theft.

Concord authorities did not identify the officer who shot Vargas, but said they had been placed on administrative leave.