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Man steals, burns 2 Clearwater post office flags: affidavit

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Published  June 24, 2025 2:43pm EDT
Clearwater
FOX 13 News

The Brief

    • A man was arrested after stealing two flags from a Clearwater post office and burning them, according to Pinellas County affidavit.
    • The suspect took the stolen flags to a nearby gas station and set them on fire.
    • 24-year-old Jose Vargas faces nine separate criminal charges, some of them felonies.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - A man was seen stealing an American Flag and POW/MIA flag from a Clearwater post office before he set them both on fire at a gas station across the street, according to a Pinellas County affidavit.

The suspect, who was later identified as 24-year-old Jose Vargas, was acting aggressively toward traffic and yelling "incoherently in Spanish" before he used a cigarette lighter to ignite and destroy both flags, the arrest report says.

Courtesy: Pinellas County Jail.

After seeing Vargas burn the flags near the intersection of Belcher Road and Gulf to Bay, a responding officer chased him into a nearby neighborhood.

Vargas then broke into a shed to hide, but the homeowners had two pit bulls inside. He managed to escape the dogs and grabbed an eBike from a nearby carport, according to responding officers.

After being caught, he gave police the name "Jason Gutierrez," but while being transported to the hospital for injuries during the chase, he gave paramedics the name, "Jose."

READ: Man accused of stealing $663K from City of Dunedin after posing as contractor

Vargas has been charged with burglary of a dwelling, burglary, grand theft, retail theft, petit theft, resisting an officer, criminal mischief, providing a false name to officers, and public mutilation of a U.S. flag.

What's next:

Vargas faces nine separate criminal charges, some of them felonies, for this criminal escapade.

He is currently being held in the Pinellas County Jail under $62,650 bond.

Since he was already out of jail on bond from an April arrest, the court may decide to hold him until trial for violating conditions of his release.

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The Source: Information for this story was provided by a Pinellas County arrest affidavit.

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