
Gabrielle Arsiaga/News-Sun
Hobbs Police officers arrested three juveniles on Saturday and charged with robbing a smoke shop with what shopkeepers thought was a handgun, but turned out to be a BB gun.
Two 15-year-old boys, were charged with robbery and accessory, second-degree felonies. A third, 15-year-old boy was charged with robbery, a second-degree felony.
Around 9:25 p.m. Saturday, HPD officers responded to a call of armed robbery at the smoke shop located on the 800 block of N. Dal Paso St.
The victim told officers three unknown males wearing hoodies and masks robbed the store.


The victim told police one of the males had been in the store a few minutes prior to the robbery and was wearing the same clothing.
The victim said one of the males put a black handgun to the victim’s head and put the victim in the corner while the other two alleged robbers grabbed items.
“(The victim) stated that the male told (the victim) he did not want to hurt (the victim), but (the victim) stated that (the victim) was afraid and believed he was going to shoot (the victim),” the criminal complaint stated.
“(the victim) stated that (the victim) was waiting to hear the pop as he held the gun to (the victim’s) head.”
The victim “knew better than to fight back” and did as the alleged robbers said, according to the report. The victim said the trio asked for the victim’s cellphone.
The victim said the trio took edibles, vapes, backpacks and lighters.
On the store’s video surveillance footage, a person wearing a dark hoodie with straight brown hair could be seen at the counter speaking to the victim. The Hispanic 15-year-old (juvenile 1) grabbed an item from the counter when the victim wasn’t looking and put it in his pocket and left the store, according to the report of the video footage.
A few moments later a taller 15-year-old (juvenile 2), wearing all black and white face mask, pulled a black handgun from his waistband and approached the victim and pointed the gun.
While juvenile 2 pointed the gun at the victim, juvenile 1 and a third 15-year-old (juvenile 3), who was wearing a grey sweatshirt and face mask, entered the store and started taking items from the behind the counter.
HPD officers identified the first juvenile and contacted his mother, who identified her son in the photo.
The mother gave officers the address where her son was at the time, and officers went and made contact with the homeowner.
The homeowner allowed police to go inside and found all three juveniles, and a fourth unidentified juvenile, inside of the home attempting to leave.
The fourth juvenile was questioned and he told police all three juveniles were his friends, and had been at his house before the burglary happened.
He said around 9 p.m. the trio mentioned something about wanting to rob a smoke shop and he thought they were joking.
The fourth juvenile said the trio returned later to his house and had backpacks full of items they did not have before.
He said they were “happy” about what they did, and said they had THC gummies, cards, backpacks, and a gun.
He also said he thought the gun was a BB gun and juvenile 1 had it at his house, but didn’t know who had it during the robbery, according to the report.
Juvenile 2’s mother told police she wanted him to have an attorney, and he didn’t give police a statement.
Juvenile 1 wouldn’t let police finish reading him his rights and told them, “I ain’t saying nothing,” and “If (I) did something (I) would have been arrested and taken to jail,” the report stated.
Juvenile 1’s mother told him he was going to go to jail and he said, “If that’s the case, then let it go.”
Police asked juvenile 1’s mother if his behavior was normal, and she told police no, she thought he was under the influence. She then told her son, “Why don’t you just tell the detective what happened?”
He answered, “I ain’t saying (expletive).”Juvenile 3 told police he didn’t want to be at the robbery, and his mom said, “But you were there?”
He answered, “Yes ma’am.”
She said, “They have video on you.”
“It’s because of (juvenile 1’s) (expletive),” he responded
“(Juvenile 3) began crying when (his mother) asked if this was the kind of life he wanted to live and told him that this hurt her feelings,” the criminal complaint stated.
Juvenile 3’s mother then told police she wanted an attorney for her son.
Officers found vapes, edibles, and a black BB gun in the three juveniles’ possession.