THOREAU, N.M. – In the middle afternoon of October 17, the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to an incident occurring in Thoreau, New Mexico. The call alleged that someone had been shot in the leg, according to a police report from CCSO.
Deputy Brian Gardener arrived at the scene and had to perform “life saving measures” on a victim. Deputy Gardener recovered seven 45-caliber casings from the scene, along with several undisclosed items that were covered with blood, according to the police report.
The victim was able to give a description of the event and pointed out an alleged suspect, Anthony Vigil.
Deputy Gardner arrested Vigil and charged him with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit a violent felony, and tampering with evidence.
According to Cibola County Sheriff Tony Mace, Vigil was seen in magistrate court on Oct. 19 where a judge set an unsecured bond of $10,000.
“[This] means he can get out for $1,000 bucks,” Sheriff Mace said. The sheriff mentioned that this situation occurs due to the bail bond reform act. New Mexico has a long history of reforming its bail bond act.
Bail bonds
To reform the bail bond, act the people of New Mexico vote on constitutional amendments during an election year. According to state records, in 2016 a bail bond reform act was passed which stated, “A person who is not detainable on grounds of dangerousness nor a flight risk in the absence of bond and is otherwise eligible for bail shall not be detained solely because of financial inability to post a money or property bond. A defendant who is neither a danger nor a flight risk and who has a financial inability to post a money or property bond may file a motion with the court requesting relief from the requirement to post bond. The court shall rule on the motion in an expedited manner.”
The amendment was proposed in December 2015 and was passed in the state legislature in 2016. It came after a New Mexico Supreme Court ruling in 2014 that held a district court had placed a high bond that was based on the severity of the offense. The court recommended changes to the bail bonds to the legislature, warning that other lower courts might set bonds high based on the offense of crimes as well, according to state records.
Sheriff Mace posed that this practice has been responsible for letting alleged criminals back onto the street, creating more danger for the public.