A 35-year-old Hutchinson man arrested Sunday afternoon after he allegedly fled a Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper and Hutchinson Police made a first appearance on the charges Monday morning.
Dominic Vargas faces a number of charges after the chase and appeared via-video from the Reno County Jail and asked Magistrate Judge Randy McEwen for a reduction of the 150-thousand dollar bond for the new case. But Assistant District Attorney Andrew Davidson argued against any reduction because of the chase and the danger it caused to others. Plus, he has two other cases pending and a substantial criminal history. Judge McEwen denied the request for a bond reduction.
It started around 4:40 p-m, Sunday when the trooper says he observed Vargas driving and knew him to be an absconder and had warrants for his arrest. He was seen driving in the area of the 900 block of West 4th. The trooper attempted to stop the vehicle and Vargas allegedly refused to pull over and officers with the Hutchinson Police assisted the trooper. Vargas at some point is alleged to have struck a patrol car.
He allegedly abandoned the vehicle he was driving in the 100 block of East 10th and fled on foot and went into a residence in the 100 block of East 11th. Officers set up a perimeter and were able to negotiate with the occupants of the residence to exit the house after about an hour. Four people exited the house and were detained. One of the occupants was Vargas and he was placed under arrest.
Potential charges include felony flee and elude, leaving the scene of an accident, failing to give information of an accident, driving while suspended and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer.
Although the judge set a status hearing for April 9, Davidson indicated the state should have formal charges filed in the next few days.
Vargas has other charges pending for possession of K-2 or synthetic marijuana for an arrest with two others in April of last year. He also has another case where he’s charged with possession of meth, possession of marijuana, possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms and possession of drug paraphernalia. This case goes back to September of 2012.
His bond in the new case is 150-thousand, but bonds total 165-thousand.