By Roger Lanse

On Tuesday, June 6, at about 1:07 p.m., a call was received by the Grant County Regional Dispatch Authority advising that a male had just stolen a purse from a woman who was getting into her vehicle in the Ace Hardware parking lot. The caller, according to an affidavit for arrest, advised that the man had just purchased a snow cone from her, prior to the robbery, at Tropical Island Paradise on the south side of the lot, and that the Hispanic male was with two kids and a “white girlfriend.”

Ace employees provided the plate number of the 1999 maroon Chevy sedan the male had been driving, which officers determined to be registered to Vincent Montano, 25, of Silver City, according to police documents.

Officers spoke to the victim in Hurley about 4 p.m. that day, the affidavit stated, and she advised she was walking out of Ace Hardware to her car which was parked in the southwest area of the parking lot, when a man ran up to her and “yanked” her purse and an Ace bag out of her hands. The victim said she did not see his face and the man said nothing to her but scared her with the “force” he used when he took her belongings. The items inside the Ace bag were valued at about $15, the victim said, while her purse had several personal belongings but did not contain credit cards. The victim did not know if the purse had any money in it.

The female with Montano, determined to be Markie Nycole Smith, 21, also of Silver City, was interviewed by Silver City police officers at Montano’s home around 5:30 p.m. She stated she did not know what Montano had done in the parking lot, although the affidavit states Smith was seen driving the maroon Chevy in the parking lot right after the robbery.

According to a June 9, email from SCPD, the Carlsbad, NM, police department arrested Montano and Smith on Wednesday, June 7, on outstanding warrants out of Judge Maurine Laney’s court related to the June 6 robbery. Montano was charged with robbery, a third degree felony, and larceny, a petty misdemeanor. Smith was charged with accessory to commit robbery, a third degree felony.

Montano’s bond was set June 7, at $25,000 cash only, while Smith’s bond was set the same date at $10,000.