Lisa Vargas, woman wanted in bail agent shooting, arrested and booked for murder
The woman wanted in a shooting involving an alleged bail agent has been arrested and booked for murder. Lisa Vargas, 53, evaded capture for nearly a month. Palm Springs Police confirmed to News Channel 3 that Vargas is now in custody. According to Riverside County jail inmate records, Vargas was arrested on Thursday at 3:35 p.m. in Whittier.
Vargas was wanted in connection to a shooting that left 33-year-old Palm Springs resident David Spann dead during an attempted fugitive recovery at Indian Canyon Gardens on the morning of April 23.
Fabian Herrera, 36, was was formally charged with murder by the Riverside County District Attorney last month in connection to the shooting. It was later learned that Vargas is Herrera's mother, and that she was helping him, according to the Riverside County Sheriff.
Herrera's attorney has stated that his client was fully licensed to apprehend Spann, while the Riverside County Sheriff said Herrera was not properly licensed to perform fugitive recovery.
Lt. William Hutchinson with Palm Springs Police gave a detailed timeline of what happened leading up to the shooting:
1:47 a.m. Herrera, who is the bail agent in this case, called Palm Springs Police Department and informed us that he was going to Mr. Spann’s home to look for him and attempt to locate him.
2:11 a.m. We got a call from Spann himself saying that someone was trying to break into his home and our dispatchers could hear yelling in the background of that call.
2:13 a.m. The Ring alarm company for Spann’s residence called our dispatch center to report a panic alarm had been triggered at Mr. Spann’s residence.
2:15 a.m. One of the Palm Springs Police Department sergeants hears the call go out at Spann’s residence, realizes that there is somebody there trying to locate him. That sergeant calls Mr. Herrera to see if something is going on, but Mr. Herrera doesn’t answer.
2:17 a.m. Two minutes later Mr. Herrera calls the sergeant back and says that he’s in need of immediate assistance from our agency. Our officers were then dispatched at that time, almost simultaneously with the Ring alarm company call. They arrive moments later.
2:18 a.m. The bail agent tells the sergeant over the phone that Spann is armed with a knife and that he has Mr. Spann at gunpoint.
2:20 a.m. Our officers are already on scene. They announced that Spann is armed with a knife and they’ve deployed a taser. Within a span of anywhere from 14-20 seconds, our officer reports shots fired. That was reporting that the bail agent had fired a shot and that they were requesting medical aid about a minute later.
Palm Springs Police said there had been eight calls to Spann's home between March 25 and April 1, which included annoying phone calls, vandalism, and a violation of court order. Five of them resulted in Spann being arrested, but it's unclear if any of the incidents were related to why a bail agency was seeking to apprehend him. Spann's family also told News Channel 3 that he had been going through a rough time days before the shooting.
Meanwhile, if convicted Herrera could face 50 years to life in prison. The murder charge came with a sentencing enhancement alleging Herrera intentionally discharged a firearm and caused great bodily injury. Three additional counts were filed accusing Herrera of being a felon while in possession of a firearm, ammunition and body armor.
The criminal complaint also detailed two prior strikes against Herrera in the state of California. A third strike could allow a judge to increase the sentence, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's office.
In an exclusive interview with News Channel 3's Shelby Nelson on May 14, Herrera's attorney Rajan Maline said that his client was told to shoot his gun by a PSPD officer who had responded to the call.
"There were 2 officers in the house with Mr. Herrera and they were both in what I would call strategic positions to Mr. Spann, but I believe the male officer was closer to Mr. Spann and Mr. Spann had lunged at the officer and that’s when the command was given to shoot," said Rajan.
