Man carjacked two SUVs, tried to steal another in Riverhead, town police say

A 32-year-old homeless man was arrested Thursday night in Rocky Point, hours after Riverhead police said he carjacked two vehicles and attempted to steal another in a series of incidents that began late in the afternoon in the parking lot of the TJ Maxx shopping plaza on Route 58 in Riverhead.

The man, identified by police as Jan Carlos Vargas, was arrested by Suffolk County police responding to a report of "a suspicious male" on Route 25A near Patchogue Drive at about 7 p.m.

Police said responding officers found Vargas wearing only shorts, having an "altered mental status" and indicating he had consumed "some type of hallucinogen" — and telling officers "he had been running from Riverhead Police." He was transported to John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson for evaluation, then was turned over to Riverhead police, who charged him with two counts of second-degree robbery and one count of second-degree attempted robbery.

He was held overnight for arraignment Friday, police said.

The carjacking and attempted carjacking followed two earlier service calls leading to interactions between officers and Vargas, police said.

Police said that around 4:40 p.m. Vargas approached a 67-year-old Baiting Hollow woman and tried to "forcibly remove her" from her 2011 Jeep in the parking lot outside the TJ Maxx. She called 911, and while on the phone police said the woman told police that she saw the man who had attempted to steal her vehicle get into a 2021 Toyota Highlander. A young girl then exited the passenger side door before the man drove off, police said.

Responding officers interviewed the woman and the 10-year-old girl, who told them she had been "sitting in the vehicle waiting for her mother to finish shopping" when Vargas "got into the vehicle and began yelling at her" and demanding she get out, police said.

Police immediately put out an alert and a short while later, a uniformed sergeant spotted the Toyota abandoned behind a building at 55 W. Main St. in Riverhead, police said.

Police said it was then that a 79-year-old Riverhead man approached and told the officer he had been accosted by a man as he sat parked in his 2005 Chevrolet Avalanche, and was forced from the vehicle before the carjacker drove off.

During the investigation by detectives, police said a uniformed officer watching surveillance footage recognized Vargas from two calls earlier in the day.

Police said that information was then broadcast to surrounding departments, with Suffolk police arresting Vargas around 7 p.m.

Police said the stolen Avalanche was later recovered in Rocky Point.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”