Man shot by Fresno sergeant likely not armed

Man refused to get out of SUV after hitting a parked van.

Published online on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

Update: Authorities today released the name of the man shot and killed by a Fresno police sergeant Tuesday and said the man apparently was not armed.

Steven Anthony Vargas, 32, of Fresno was shot about 3 p.m. after crashing his sport utility vehicle into a van parked in front of a house on the north side of McKinley Avenue, east of Ninth Street, in central Fresno.

Witnesses told police Tuesday that Vargas was armed with a gun. Other reports said he was armed with a knife or machete.

Today, Fresno County sheriff's spokesman Chris Curtice said "it appears at this time that Vargas was not armed when he was shot." The Sheriff's Office is investigating the case because the shooting occurred on county property within Fresno.

Police Chief Jerry Dyer said Tuesday that Vargas was on parole when he was shot.

Curtice said today that Vargas had been on parole for narcotics-related charges, but was released from parole Oct. 3. Vargas was not wanted on any warrants at the time of his death, Curtice said.

An autopsy was scheduled to be performed on Vargas today,

A veteran Fresno police officer shot and killed a 32-year-old man who refused to get out of his sport utility vehicle Tuesday after crashing into a parked van in central Fresno.

The man, who was not identified, was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where he later died, said Fresno County Sheriff's spokesman Chris Curtice. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the man had an extensive criminal record, had served time in prison and was on parole when he was shot.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating because the shooting occurred in a county island, on east McKinley Avenue near Ninth Street.

The officer, a sergeant with about 29 years on the force, has been placed on administrative leave with pay, Dyer said.

The sergeant is on the SWAT team and has been involved in at least one other officer-involved shooting, Dyer said. He declined to disclose the sergeant's name.

Witnesses told investigators that the man was driving the red SUV erratically east on McKinley Avenue about 3 p.m., Curtice said.

At about Ninth Street, the man's SUV jumped the center median and continued east in the westbound lanes of McKinley, then jumped a curb in front of a house and hit a gray van parked in the driveway.

The driver continued to accelerate the SUV into the van.

A woman came out of the house after the crash, but neighbors snatched her out of the way before the man was shot, Curtice said.

Witnesses had told the sergeant that the driver was armed, possibly with a knife or machete, Curtice said. Curtice and Dyer said they couldn't confirm whether the man was armed.

The sergeant confronted the man and told him to get out of the vehicle, Curtice said. When the man refused, the sergeant shot him. Dyer said the officer feared for his life.

The man was the ninth person shot by Fresno police officers this year and the fifth person to die, police spokesman Jeff Cardinale said.

McKinley Avenue was closed between Millbrook and Cedar avenues for several hours after the shooting.