RHOC’s Elizabeth Vargas was once held captive while a SWAT team surrounded her house
She felt lucky to have survived
If you watched Elizabeth Lyn Vargas on The Real Housewives of Orange County season 15, you’ll remember her bubbly energy, chaotic storytelling and the rollercoaster of a personal life she shared on screen. Now, she’s back on our screens in an episode of Selling The OC.
But away from Bravo cameras, things took a genuinely frightening turn.
Before reappearing on Selling The OC, Elizabeth became the centre of a real-life police standoff at her Newport Beach home after an ex allegedly held her at gunpoint, triggering a full SWAT response. Here’s what actually happened, and where her ex is now.
Elizabeth was held at gunpoint
View this post on Instagram
In February 2022, Newport Beach police were called to Elizabeth’s home on the Balboa Peninsula for a welfare check. When officers arrived, they realised things were much more serious than a simple check-in and quickly evacuated her from the house. They then reported “possible felony suspects barricaded” inside and called in a SWAT team, shutting down nearby streets while they tried to get control of the situation, per The Los Angeles Times.
Prosecutors later said that Elizabeth’s ex, Ryan Matthew Geraghty, had allegedly been extorting her since Christmas Eve, demanding tens of thousands of dollars and threatening to leak nude photos if she did not pay up.
When she pushed back, things escalated. Court filings claim he punched her in the face, forced her to buy him a BMW, then came to her house with a gun, pointed it at her and threatened to kill her, per the report.
During the incident, the Real Housewives star’s ex allegedly held her captive inside the home while armed, leading to a roughly two-hour standoff with police.
Through her manager, Elizabeth later thanked Newport Beach police and the SWAT team for “saving her from harm’s way” and called the whole thing a traumatic experience she felt lucky to have survived.
What happened to her ex?
View this post on Instagram
After officers heard a struggle over the phone while trying to contact Elizabeth, they entered the house, arrested Geraghty and took him into custody.
He was charged with a long list of felonies, including extortion by force or threat, assault with a firearm, making criminal threats, corporal injury on a cohabitant, grossly negligent discharge of a firearm and being a felon in possession of a gun, plus two misdemeanour drug counts.
Because of his prior record, prosecutors treated him as a “third-striker,” which reportedly meant that there was no easy probation option on the table.
In May 2023, Geraghty pleaded guilty to attacking Elizabeth and was immediately sentenced to six years in state prison, according to court reports, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.
So when Elizabeth shows up touring a 25 million dollar listing on Selling The OC, she is not just another crossover Bravo personality. She is someone who has survived a terrifying ordeal, seen her ex sent to prison, and is now out there rebuilding her life in front of the cameras all over again.
For all the latest reality TV cast member news, scandals, gossip and updates – like Reality Shrine on Facebook.