Man, woman sentenced for robbing shoe stores, shooting at police during pursuit
A federal judge last week sentenced a 30-year-old Colorado man for holding up two metro Denver shoes stores with a revolver two years ago. Already imprisoned is the man's female accomplice who fired the gun at pursuing deputies that day.
The pair robbed a Foot Locker in Lakewood and a DSW in Westminster on Nov. 14, 2020 in less than an hour.
David Houston Vargas, 30, threatened store employees with a silver revolver that night. He walked out with armfuls of Nike, Jordan and Adidas brand shoes.
Kitira Hays, 22, was the getaway driver at both stores.
When an Adams County deputy hours later saw the suspect's vehicle make an illegal turn, Vargas was behind the wheel.
"The defendant ignored the pursuing deputies and for miles, he continued to drive at high speeds, weaving in and out of traffic, driving on the shoulder, cutting off other drivers, and driving on the wrong side of the road," Vargas is described in prosecutors' sentencing statement.
After Vargas evaded a set of tire-deflating stop sticks thrown onto the roadway, Hays grabbed the .357-caliber revolver and began firing at pursuing deputies, the court document reports.
An Adams County deputy returned fire while he chased them, driving with right hand and shooting with his left.
Vargas crashed the car in a trailer park in which he lived and the suspects exchanged gunfire with the Adams County deputy.
"He aired over the radio that he was being fired at and nearby deputies also heard and smelled the gunshots," the sentencing statement describes.
No injuries were reported as a result of the rounds fired by either the deputy or the suspects.
Both Vargas and Hays escaped capture that night but were later caught.
Vargas, already with a list of misdemeanor offenses on his record, was serving a community corrections sentence for drug possession at the time of the robberies. He was sentenced to 26.5 years in federal prison on Nov. 1, the precise length of imprisonment prosecutors had requested.
"Despite the fact that none of the young, and predominantly female, employees posed a physical barrier to the defendant shoplifting the merchandise, he purposefully chose to twice brandish the firearm in order to rob them and intentionally pointed the gun at the young woman behind the register at the DSW," prosecutors explained in the sentencing statement. "The defendant's reckless driving put anyone on the road at risk.
"The defendant has shown no regard for the safety of others and has made it clear that he will act with near-lethal violence in order to get what he wants."
Hays pleaded guilty to charges and was sentenced in March to 14.75 years.
A third woman, Taylor Amanda Isaac, 25, helped Vargas rob the shoe stores and carry out the merchandise. She was his girlfriend at the time, according to the sentencing statement, and testified in court that she believed they were going to shoplift the shoes as she and Vargas had done in the past.
Vargas and Hays dropped Isaac off at a mall prior to the pursuit and shots being fired. Isaac was sentenced in September to four years probation.
"Dangerous criminals too often choose gun violence against law enforcement and innocent people who are simply trying to live their lives responsibly and in peace every day," said Special Agent in Charge David S. Booth of the Denver Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in a press release. "ATF will continue to vigorously investigate, apprehend, and pursue the prosecution of those who do."
