SAN DIEGO — A man convicted of vehicle theft and grand theft with a firearm did not return Tuesday from an authorized outing from the Barrio Logan halfway house he is completing his sentence.
Shortly before noon, after being were notified that Steven Vargas' electronic monitoring device had been disabled, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials notified local law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for him.
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Vargas, 53, is a 6-foot-tall, roughly 190-pound Latino with a long gray goatee. When he left the Male Community Reentry Program facility on Boston Avenue about 10 a.m. Tuesday he was wearing faded black jeans, a blue shirt, a gray sweater and black shoes, a department official said.
Vargas was transferred from the California Institution for Men to the San Diego Male Community Reentry Program facility two weeks ago to complete a four-year sentence. He was scheduled to be released on parole in June, a department official said.
Since 1977, 99% of all offenders who have left an adult institution, camp or community-based program without permission have been apprehended, a department official said.
