A Florida felon was arrested at AutoZone in Newton on Friday as customers and employees looked on.

Carlos Vargas, 33, was arrested about 1 p.m. after spending more than six years on the run, Deputy U.S. Marshal Steve Gladden said.  Vargas escaped a federal prison facility in Montgomery, Ala., in June of 2001.  He was jailed for trafficking marijuana in Florida through produce shipments in 2000.  Gladden is unsure how Vargas escaped, though he believes Vargas fled to Mexico and only recently returned to the U.S. U.S. Marshals believe Vargas has worked with Carolina Produce Wholesale, on East D Street in Newton since mid-November.

Gladden said U.S. Marshals was undergoing suveillance of the business for several days, but the Marshals did not see Vargas until Friday.  They followed Vargas and a woman from Carolina Produce Wholesale to Auto Zone and decided to go ahead and make the arrest.

“They weren’t playing around,” AutoZone Assistant Manager Pablo Hernandez said.  “They scooped him off the floor, and the girl with him.  They were in and out really fast.”

Vargas was not considered dangerous, Gladden said, so it was considered a low-risk opportunity to take him into custody.

Investigators followed Vargas to Newton after learning he had obtained a North Carolina driver’s license in November of 2007 under the name Javier Martell, Gladden said.  He said the real Martell has been in jail in Puerto Rico since March of 2007.

Vargas had been living in Granite Falls on Hurricane Hill Road in a house with two other people, Gladden said.

“I don’t think he’s been in the Catawba and Caldwell areas long,” he said.  “Though he does have connections to people in the area.”

Gladden said investigators think he has family and friends in the area.

After the arrest, he was transported to the Mecklenburg County Jail to make an initial appearance in court on Tuesday before being extradited to Alabama, Gladden said. Gladden didn’t know how much time Vargas has left on his sentence.

Vargas has been indicted for his escape and will face charges in federal court in Alabama.  He will also receive a felony charge of obtaining a fraudulent ID.