Suspect in 2025 San Pablo killing arrested in Mexico

SAN PABLO — A suspect wanted in the 2025 killing of a San Pablo man was arrested in Mexico this week, authorities said.

Police had been searching for 25-year-old Juan Vargas since the shooting death of 26-year-old Emmanuel Rodriguez-Flores on March 29, 2025. The killing happened about 1:30 a.m. outside the Liquor for Less store on 23rd Street.

It was one of two homicides investigated by San Pablo police last year.

Authorities in Mexico arrested Vargas on Sunday, San Pablo police spokesperson Peggy Chou said in a statement. Vargas has been extradited to the United States to face a charge of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder related to bystanders who were next to Rodriguez-Flores but not hit by the gunfire, authorities said.

The charges carry with them gun and criminal street gang enhancements, police said.

Authorities had issued a warrant for Vargas’ arrest. He remained in custody at the Martinez Detention Facility on Friday without bail, according to jail records.

Police originally did not report the killing to the public, releasing information only after this news organization contacted them about it.

According to to authorities, Rodriguez-Flores and one other person assaulted Vargas inside the same store in January 2025, then apologized to someone inside the store while explaining that they had to attack Vargas because of a gang feud.

That attack and the March shooting were captured on security cameras.

Chou said the Los Angeles Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Mexico law enforcement authorities all helped during the nearly year-long search for Vargas.