Man Dies in Custody of Austin, Texas-area Law Enforcement

The Travis County Sheriff’s Department, in Austin, Texas, filed a custodial death report regarding the death of Eddie Christian Vargas. Mr. Vargas was only 28 years old at the time of his death. We provide information we obtained from that report, and we make no allegations of any wrongdoing against any officer related to Mr. Vargas’ death.

The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“On 06/09/2021 AT 17:20 hrs. TCSO deputies responded to a disturbance call in the 1900-block of Bluebonnet Ln. A resident reported hearing a female scream, a TCSO deputy and Pct. 3 deputy constable arrived to find Eddie Christian Vargas in the middle of Bluebonnet Ln on all fours (hands and knees) with no shirt and his pants and underwear down below his waist, exposing his buttocks. Vargas told one of the deputies at the scene to shoot him and began striking his forehead against the roadway pavement. The deputies approached Vargas to restrain him from self-harm by grabbing his arms in an attempt to stand him to his feet. Vargas pulled away from the deputies and actively resisted being detained. The Pct. 3 deputy Constable forcefully took Vargas to the ground and assisted with handcuffing him. TCSO Deputy DeLeon arrived and assisted with handcuffing Vargas who was now facedown on the ground and at some point became unresponsive”.

Without regard to what happened to Mr. Vargas, the 4^th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right of pre-trial detainees not to be subjected to excessive force. Force used by police officers must be reasonable. If a law enforcement officer uses unreasonable force with an arrestee, then he or she could be liable for any resulting injury and/or death. Once again, we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against any officer related to Mr. Vargas’ death, as the custodial death report does not provide sufficient information to make such a determination.

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.