Charges filed in Walmart armed robbery case
Charges in Wednesday morning’s armed robbery of a Walmart store were filed against a 26-yearold Yuma man on Monday in Yuma Justice Court.
During a brief hearing, Abraham Castillo was arraigned before Justice of the Peace Juan M. Guerrero, who was filling in for Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Greg Stewart.
Judge Guerrero informed Castillo that prosecutors, after reviewing the case against him, were charging him with a felony offense of armed robbery.
When asked if he would like to be heard on conditions of release, an attorney from the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office, who was only representing Castillo for the purpose of the hearing, asked that he be released on his own recognizance.
The attorney explained that Castillo has no prior criminal history and is not considered a flight risk
Judge Guerrero denied the request, but did reduce Castillo’s bond from the $200,000 it had been previously set at down to $100,000.
He also informed Castillo that his case would likely go before the grand jury in the next few days to determine if there is enough probable cause for it to proceed to Superior Court.
If it doesn’t, Guerrero said, then he would return to Justice Court for a preliminary hearing, which he scheduled for 4 p.m. on April 6.
According to Yuma police, officers responded to a report of threats with a weapon at the Walmart located at 2501 S. Avenue B at 8:15 p.m.
Yuma police say that the initial investigation revealed a man entered the business and approached an associate at the money center desk. The suspect indicated he had a weapon and demanded money from the associate, police said. Afterward he fled the store and left the area in an unknown vehicle.
Castillo was located at 4:24 a.m. Thursday morning in the 2300 block of 8th Avenue. He was arrested without incident and booked into the Yuma County jail on suspicion of armed robbery.