Feds say man used explosive to damage Naperville restaurant amid looting

Federal prosecutors have charged a 24-year-old man with using an explosive to damage a suburban restaurant amid a wave of vandalism and looting on June 1.

Diego Vargas is charged in a one-page indictment with maliciously attempting to damage and destroy a building with an explosive. His alleged target was the Egg Harbor Cafe in Naperville, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Vargas’ indictment was unsealed Thursday, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Court records

Naperville was among the many suburban communities hit by vandalism and looting in the unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis this year. Despite earlier peaceful demonstrations, scores of Naperville shop fronts wound up having their windows smashed when a demonstration turned violent June 1, the same day Vargas is alleged to have used the explosive.

In a video shared by prosecutors at a detention hearing Friday, a person alleged to be Vargas appears to throw a flaming object through a window of the Egg Harbor Cafe before running away. When the explosive goes off, it fills several otherwise dark restaurant windows with light.

Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said prosecutors told the judge Friday that Vargas is a flight risk and danger to the community. The judge did not rule, though. The detention hearing is expected to continue Thursday.

Vargas was also charged with two other men with trying to steal money from an Aurora ATM on May 31. Prosecutors filed a criminal complaint in that case June 30. Court records show U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert ordered Vargas’ release from federal custody on July 8.

The feds say Vargas was arrested Wednesday night, and prison records show Vargas was being held Friday at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center.