A Venezuelan man faced arrest in Clearwater, Florida, over the weekend after allegedly taking an American flag from a local post office and setting it ablaze.
The Clearwater police affidavit reports that on June 22, 24-year-old Jose Canas Vargas was seen taking the American and Prisoner of War flags from a flagpole at the post office on Belcher Road.
A bystander observed Vargas running towards a gas station nearby, where he was noticed moving erratically between the street and sidewalk and “shouting incoherently,” authorities stated.
Officers arrived to find Vargas crouched over a small fire in the middle of the road. Officials said he had used a cigarette lighter and a stick to set both flags on fire.
Vargas then took off running toward a mobile home park, and a lengthy foot pursuit ensued. Officials said Vargas ran under a carport and tried to steal an e-bike but dropped it once an officer made “physical contact” with him.
He managed to escape from the officer and continued running through the mobile home park. At one point, officials said Vargas tried to hide in an outdoor shed, but the property owner advised police that there were two pit bulls inside the shed.
Another officer spotted Vargas leaving the shed and he was eventually taken into custody.
Authorities said Vargas initially provided them with a fake name and refused to give them his date of birth. However, they were later able to confirm his identity through an extensive records search that yielded a booking photo from April.
Vargas was arrested and charged with public mutilation of a U.S. or Florida flag, grand theft, burglary, resisting an officer, criminal mischief, providing a false name to law enforcement, and petit theft.
