Diego Vargas sentenced to 5 years for bombing Egg Harbor Cafe in Naperville during 2020 looting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 27-year-old man has been sentenced to 5 years in prison, after he pleaded guilty last year to federal charges accusing him of throwing an explosive device through the window of a Naperville restaurant during widespread looting in June 2020.
Diego Vargas pleaded guilty last June to one count of maliciously attempting to damage and destroy a building by means of an explosive device.
At his sentencing hearing on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo sentenced him to five years in prison.
Federal prosecutors said Vargas threw a "lit explosive device" through the window of the Egg Harbor Cafe in Naperville on June 1, 2020, resulting in two explosions. His attack on the restaurant came after hundreds of people had begun vandalizing businesses and attacking police officers, following a peaceful protest earlier that night, according to prosecutors.
Naperville was one of several local communities that saw widespread vandalism and looting in late May and early June last year, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Prosecutors said video evidence from the scene shows Vargas throwing a flaming object through a window at Egg Harbor Cafe and running away. The dark windows of the restaurant can be seen lighting up as a blast is heard just seconds later.
Vargas has been in custody since his arrest in October 2020.
