Police Officer Charged With Stalking

Officer Rob Vargas was arrested in Jackson County and charged with stalking.

Here is a statement from the Lansing Dept:

On July 1, 2008 the Jackson County Prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Lansing Police Officer Rob Vargas. On July 3, 2008 Officer Vargas was arraigned on charges of Felony Aggravated Stalking and Misdemeanor Malicious Use of Telecommunications.

Officer Vargas was hired on August 22, 1997 and was most recently assigned to the uniform patrol division. Officer Vargas was placed on paid administrative leave on May 23, 2007 due to a criminal investigation in Jackson County. Since that time Officer Vargas has applied for a duty disability pension. The Pension Board is currently reviewing his request.

Lansing Police Chief Mark Alley said today that the Lansing Police Department does not tolerate criminal misconduct by any of its members and that allegations of wrongdoing by any member of the agency are thoroughly investigated.

"We have and will continue to hold ourselves to the highest possible standards of integrity and professional conduct in law enforcement," Chief Alley said. "We will not compromise our core values and will assure that those values are applied to all our personnel on or off duty. The Lansing Police Department will maintain the integrity of our disciplinary process by following the policies, procedures and union contract, which details the disciplinary process."

Chief Alley noted that Officer Vargas's situation remains in the criminal justice system and therefore it would be inappropriate to discuss the details of his case.