On June 22, 2025, Clearwater police arrested Jose Canas Vargas, a 24-year-old Venezuelan national, at a post office on Belcher Road. According to an arrest affidavit, Vargas removed an American flag and a Prisoner of War flag from a flagpole. A witness observed Vargas running to a nearby gas station, moving between the street and sidewalk while shouting. Police found Vargas setting both flags on fire in the road using a cigarette lighter and a stick.
Vargas fled toward a mobile home park, initiating a foot pursuit. During the chase, he attempted to steal an e-bike from a carport but dropped it after an officer made contact. Vargas continued running, briefly hiding in an outdoor shed containing two pit bulls, as reported by the property owner. Officers apprehended him after he exited the shed.
Vargas initially provided a false name and withheld his date of birth. Police identified him through a records search, which matched a booking photo from April. He faces charges of 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.
