Las Cruces Teens Get Two Years In Detention For Robbery

Three Las Cruces teens will spend two years in juvenile detention for a purse-snatching that left an 81-year-old woman in a wheelchair.

Victim Mary Inez Garcia told Judge Jacinto Palomino at a Tuesday hearing that she hopes the 17-year-old boys get a high school diploma while incarcerated so they don't have to live a life of crime.

Garcia broke her hip when one of the boys jumped out of a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot and tried to snatch her purse. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports she was thrown to the ground but held onto her purse.

The boy jumped back into the car with three other teens and sped away as a crowd gathered.

All four pleaded no contest to armed robbery. A 14-year-old was given probation.

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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.