Twitter A woman being dragged through a WinCo grocery store by employees.
Viral videos captured the disturbing scene of a woman kicking and screaming as she is dragged through a grocery store in Visalia, California. The woman was identified by ABC7 as Victoria Vargas, 27, of Hanford. Jail records confirm that she’s being held on a string of possible charges stemming from the December 16 incident.
Marie Edinger, a journalist with FOX26, wrote on Twitter on December 19, 2020, “FOX26 News viewer Nayeli Robles sent me this video, showing another angle of an incident we reported on earlier in the week. This woman was dragged out of the WinCo Foods on Caldwell Ave. in Visalia after being accused of stealing tequila.”
Here’s that video:
FOX26 News viewer Nayeli Robles sent me this video, showing another angle of an incident we reported on earlier in the week.
This woman was dragged out of the WinCo Foods on Caldwell Ave. in Visalia after being accused of stealing tequila
More video here: t.co/3FCgCMfL1N
The second video appears to take place outside the store, where multiple bystanders tried to intervene on behalf of Vargas.
Visalia is a city in California located about 43 miles south of Fresno.
Here’s what you need to know:
A Local Television Station Says the Men in the Video Are Security Guards
The video originally reported by FOX26 News and ABC7 shows the woman being dragged through the store as two men each hold one of her arms. ”You guys can’t drag her. It’s illegal,” a man says as the woman screams.
According to ABC7, the men dragging Vargas are security guards who work for WinCo. The Visalia Police Department told FOX26 that the woman and a man with her were accused of stealing “expensive tequila,” and an altercation erupted between them and security personnel. FOX26 reported that Raul Luna, 25, fled from the store but later returned and was arrested.
An Eyewitness Says the Woman Was ‘Pleading for Help’
Tulare CoJail record for Victoria Vargas.
An eyewitness told ABC7 he felt Vargas was in pain during the incident.
“She was screaming really loud,” Marvin Lopez Rangel, who recorded the video, told ABC7 of the woman who was dragged. “She was pleading for help. It sounded like she was actually in pain.” He added, “There has to be a certain level of decency that we shall treat all people. WinCo was not being that — definitely not.”
Online jail records for Tulare County show that Vargas is being held on the following possible charges:
PC211-SECOND DEGREE ROBBERY
PC182(A)(1)-CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT A CRIME
PC4573-BRING DRUGS INTO A JAIL
HS11550(A)-UNDER INFLUENCE OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
PC1203.3-REVOCATION OF PROBATION
PC148.9(A)-GIVING FALSE INFORMATION TO A POLICE OFFICER
As of December 19, she was still being held in the jail, online records show.
Her bond amount is $60,000.
Possible charges for Luna, who is also being held in the jail, are as follows:
PC211-SECOND DEGREE ROBBERY
VC14601.2(A)-DRIVING WHEN PRIVILEGE SUSPENDED FOR PRIOR DUI CON
PC148.9(A)-GIVING FALSE INFORMATION TO A POLICE OFFICER
He is being held on $105,000 bail, according to jail records.
The comment thread filled up under the ABC7 tweet about the story, with some people showing no sympathy for the suspect because she was accused of stealing.
WinCo’s director of corporate communications did not respond to Heavy’s request for comment.
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