WEST BOUNTIFUL, Utah, Feb. 5, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A man was arrested for aggravated robbery after he allegedly brandished a handgun during a robbery of a shoe store in West Bountiful.
A probable cause statement from the 2nd District Court of Farmington said Nicholas Antonio Valencia, 19, is facing charges of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony. Elencia Marie Vigil, 22, was also arrested.
On Jan. 25, at approximately 6:20 p.m., the Famous Footwear at 500 W. 420 South in West Bountiful was robbed, the statement said.
“A man and woman entered the store and collected five pairs of shoes,” the statement said. “The suspects attempted to leave the store with the shoes and were confronted by the store clerk. The female suspect fled the store while the male suspect was stopped by the clerk. The male suspect displayed a small black firearm and then proceeded to flee the store.”
The suspects were seen getting into a dark-colored SUV hatchback, driven by a third unidentified suspect.
Video footage of the suspect and the incident was captured by the store clerk on a mobile device, and descriptions of the suspects were gathered by both the video footage and the description provided by the store clerk.
A Facebook post and media press release were prepared and released with a description of the suspect, the incident, and photos from the video footage, the statement said.
A detective with the Unified Gang Unit then informed the arresting officer he had information identifying the suspects in the robbery. He provided the names Nicholas Valencia and Elencia Vigil.
The arresting officer then found Valencia was on federal probation. He showed a criminal history of theft and assault, with additional theft charges pending. The female suspect also had theft charges pending.
The two suspects were located in the area of 1790 W. 700 North in Salt Lake City on Jan. 28. Both were taken into custody without incident, and their vehicle was seized and transported to the West Bountiful Police Department. While securing the vehicle, a black handgun could be seen wedged between the driver seat and the center console in plain sight, the statement said.
The female suspect said during her interview with police she was not originally aware a gun was used in the robbery until a couple days after the incident. After being read his Miranda rights, Valencia denied being involved or having any information about the case.
Valencia was transported to Davis County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
