Armed robbery suspect apprehended

MANAGING EDITOR

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link Staff photo: Alisa Boswell

Tony Johnson, owner of Shop in a Box on East Second Street, helps a customer Tuesday afternoon. One of Johnson’s employees was held at gunpoint Friday night when the store was robbed.

It didn’t take long for Portales police to arrest a man suspected of robbing a Portales smoke shop at gunpoint last week.

Tony Johnson, owner of Shop in a Box on East Second Street, said his employee recognized William Valdez, 22, when he walked into the store at 10:30 p.m. Friday with a shotgun.

“He comes in here every day to buy cigars, and he was wearing a shirt he bought from here,” Johnson said of Valdez.

Valdez was apprehended by Portales police officers the next morning at a residence on North Austin Street where police found firearms that had previously been reported stolen, along with a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to a police press release.

Johnson said Valdez took about $95 from the register.

He said he’s known Valdez for years, but never thought him capable of something like armed robbery.

“He never seemed like the type to do this,” Johnson said. “He was always nice and treated my people good.”

Johnson said his employee, Fonzy Terrazas, laughed at the burglar at first, thinking he was joking since the bandana on his face was half fallen.

But Valdez told the clerk “”I’m not playin.’ Give me the money,” according to Johnson.

“I told (Terrazas) if a situation like that ever happened, just give them the money,” Johnson said. “It’s not worth someone’s life (for) $95.”

Still, it was a big loss for the small-business man.

“We’re not rich. There’s not much he could have stolen,” Johnson said. “But even that $95 hit hard.”

Valdez remained in custody Tuesday at the Roosevelt County Detention Center in lieu of a $50,000 cash bond.