Motorcyclist Killed in Police Pursuit

A 34-year-old Simi Valley man riding his motorcycle at 90 mph on a city street was killed Thursday night when he collided with a pickup truck during a police pursuit.

James Vargas, a husband and father, died when his Suzuki 750 hit a Dodge Ram carrying two women on Fitzgerald Road in Simi Valley. The women were not injured.

The incident began when Simi Valley Police Officer Vernon Trujillo tried to pull Vargas over about 8 p.m. after clocking his speed at 90 mph on 1st Street near Stonebrook Street, Lt. Rex Jones said.

Vargas slowed down for a red light at Bennett Street, but when the signal turned green, he raced down 1st and made a high-speed right turn onto Fitzgerald Road, Jones said.

Trujillo followed, without turning on his red lights or siren, but never got closer than 100 yards, said Capt. Tony Harper. Trujillo activated his red lights and siren after turning onto Fitzgerald, but Vargas had already come upon the pickup, Harper said.

Driving east in the 1100 block of Fitzgerald, Vargas tried to pass the Dodge Ram on the left. But the truck driver was trying to make a left turn into a driveway at the same time.

Vargas slammed into the driver’s side of the pickup with such force that his motorcycle spun out of control and crashed into the wall of a house, authorities said. Vargas was thrown about 100 feet. He died from the impact.

Harper said Trujillo was chasing Vargas for “a matter of seconds” before the accident. Department policy allows pursuits until they become unsafe.

“When it’s not safe, then we need to terminate it,” Harper said.

Although a Police Department news release called Vargas “the fleeing motorcyclist,” a close friend of his said Vargas wouldn’t have ignored a police officer if he had seen him.

“He never would have run,” said Giles Sankey, who attended Royal High School in Simi Valley with Vargas. “It’s out of character for him. I’ve known him for years; he’s very sensible and stable.”

An investigation of the accident is underway, authorities said, adding that Trujillo remains on active duty.

In March, an 18-year-old student from Oxnard was killed when the car in which was riding was broadsided by a California Highway Patrol cruiser in pursuit of a speeding motorist.

Jessica Mohorko, a Hueneme High School senior and preachers’ daughter, was driving home from a school dance with her boyfriend when the collision occurred on Oxnard Boulevard. The speeding motorist was never caught.

Mohorko’s family has filed a legal claim against the CHP, the county and the city. Such a claim is a required precursor before filing a lawsuit.

Thursday’s accident again raised the issue of how police should conduct pursuits in urban areas.

“I’m a huge law enforcement supporter, but there is no accountability outside the police department for police chases when they’re pursuing someone for traffic infractions,” said attorney Mark Hiepler, who represented an 18-year-old woman severely injured in a 1999 Simi Valley chase.

“Statistics show that the number of people they’re putting in jeopardy while they’re chasing someone for a traffic violation doesn’t balance out,” Hiepler said. “It’s not worth it.”

Vargas, who worked as a pressman for a printing company in Camarillo, was married to Kamma Vargas. The couple have three children.

“He had a really close relationship with all his kids,” Sankey said. “They’re just devastated.”

Relatives and friends gathered at a private home in Simi Valley on Friday to grieve.

“He would do anything for his friends,” said Sankey, who went on a fishing trip with Vargas off the Channel Islands about a year ago.

Court records show Vargas paid a $165 fine in March for speeding in Simi Valley. Driving his motorcycle fast was a weakness of the church-going man who lived for his friends and family, according to Sankey.

“People with sports bikes do dumb things; that’s why they buy them,” Sankey said. “He never should have gone that fast. It was a poor decision on James’ part.”

Sankey said he talked to Vargas’ brother-in-law, who said it was Vargas’ habit “to gun it down Fitzgerald” when driving home on his bike.