Simply put:
Elizabeth Vargas is lucky to be alive right now.
As you may have heard about, the former Real Housewives of Orange County cast member was held at gunpoint by ex-boyfriend Ryan Geraghty inside of her own home last week.
Geraghty allegedly broke into Vargas’ house last Tuesday after attempting to extort the reality star over nude photos he had his possession, which he threatened to release to the public.
According to Elizabeth’s manager, David Weintraub, Vargas “was held captive for a number of hours and is extremely thankful to the Newport Beach Police Department, who was able to rescue her and get her out of harm’s way.
“She spent the entire night with the Newport Beach Police Department going over what exactly happened and she is just glad to be safely out of that situation.”
Geraghty entered the house, armed, hoping to force Vargas to give him an undisclosed amount of money, and buy him a BMW, in exchange for him not selling the aforementioned explicit images of her to the media.
According to a District Attorney statement, the alleged extortion began on Christmas Eve… and included numerous acts of violence.
At one point, Geraghty is accused of punching Vargas in the face when she told him she wasn’t going to give him any more money.
He allegedly pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her when she again tried to cut him off, according to prosecutors.
During an argument in Vargas’ house, Geraghty reportedly fired a gun into the ceiling while Vargas hid in a closet.
Weintraub added a few days ago that Vargas is “doing fine,” but was “extremely traumatized by the events that happened yesterday in her home.”
And now, meanwhile, we have an even more clear idea of just how traumatizing these events actually were.
TMZ has obtained surveillance video from inside Elizabeth’s residence, which was filmed as cops and even SWAT team members were gathering outside the premises.
Upon seeing what was happening outside, Geraghty went off on his ex. In a truly frightening manner.
“I’m taking you out, and then everybody else,” Geraghty screams in this footage.
“They can shoot me if they want. I don’t give a f-ck anymore, I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Clearly irate that Elizabeth had gotten the authorities involved, Geraghty adds:
“Bring the big boys, how f**king dare you.”
Following a multi-hour standoff, Vargas was rescued safely.
Geraghty, meanwhile, was eventually arrested on six felonies (including extortion, assault with a firearm and making criminal threats), as well as two misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance following an alleged assault against the reality television star.
A conviction in the current case would be Geraghty’s third “strike” under California’s Three Strikes law.
As a result, if convicted of all the new charges, Geraghty faces up to 75 years and four months to life in prison.
“There are some members of our society who are so violent that they cannot live among the rest of us,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement.
“California’s Three Strikes Law was designed to protect law-abiding residents from being subjected to a never-ending campaign of violence by individuals who have no respect for the law and no respect for human life…
“Thankfully the Newport Beach Police Department prevented serious harm from coming to this woman and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office will do everything it can to prevent this violent criminal from being able to harm anyone else.”
