Two women were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stealing a purse and money from a 46-year-old woman, Merced police reported.
Mayra Viveros, 23, and Kandice Rae Hoffman, 20, are accused of robbing the victim at gunpoint.
The crime was reported shortly before 11 a.m. and police responded to the report in the 200 block of West Main Street.
According to the victim, she was in the downtown Walgreens parking lot when two women approached her and started a conversation, according to Lt. Andre Matthews.
The women asked the victim if she knew where a pawnshop was, and she agreed to get into the suspect's silver SUV and take them to one.
As the three women in the SUV drove away from the Walgreens, they traveled through the 200 block alley of West Main Street.
According to the victim, one of the suspects pulled out a handgun, took her purse and ordered her out of the vehicle, Matthews said.
The victim told police she had $1,200 in cash in her purse when it was stolen. She described the vehicle to police, noting that it had paper licence plates, Matthews said.
Later Tuesday, Stanislaus County sheriff's deputies stopped a vehicle matching the suspects' SUV and determined it was stolen.
During their investigation, deputies found an identification card in the SUV belonging to the victim.
Merced police were notified and the suspects were taken into custody and booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on suspicion of auto theft, robbery and possession of stolen property.
-- Victor A. Patton
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