Men arrested in death of teen during iPad robbery held without bail

By Jackie Valley

Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 9:25 a.m.

Two men accused of driving over and killing 15-year-old Marcos Vincente Arenas while stealing his iPad last week will remain in jail at least until their preliminary hearing.

Michael Solid, 21, and Jacob Dismont, 18, appeared Thursday morning in Las Vegas Justice Court wearing standard blue jail attire and shackles on their wrists and ankles.

Across the courtroom, Arenas’ friends and family, some wearing white T-shirts in his memory, filled nearly three rows of public seating.

Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan set the suspects’ preliminary hearing for June 7 and ordered them held without bail.

Solid and Dismont face charges of conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery and murder with the use of a deadly weapon, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.

The incident happened the afternoon of May 16 near Charleston Boulevard and Scholl Drive. Metro Police said Solid and Dismont followed Arenas, who was walking and carrying his iPad, a recent birthday gift.

Dismont struggled with Arenas while stealing the iPad and then got into a passenger seat of a sport-utility vehicle driven by Solid, according to the Metro arrest report. As the vehicle pulled away, the back tire ran over Arenas, who later died from his injuries at University Medical Center, police said.

During today’s seven-minute hearing, Arenas’ family and friends cried softly as Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Daskas urged Sullivan to deny bail, while calling Solid and Dismont “lions on the Serengeti waiting to pounce, to ambush the smallest member of a pack.”

Daskas cited surveillance video from a nearby convenience store that shows Solid and Dismont talking minutes before the incident as evidence of their intent.

“They had a plan, an orchestrated, preconceived plan to rob this 15-year-old,” he said. Arenas was a freshman at Bonanza High School.

Special Public Defender David Schieck, who is representing Solid, disagreed with Daskas’ characterization of the incident and said evidence that will come out during the case will show otherwise. Schieck said he plans to file a written motion to seek bail at a later time.

Dismont’s defense attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jeff Banks, asked the judge to consider setting bail at $100,000, noting that his client has strong family support. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Dismont was a standout baseball player at Sierra Vista and Durango high schools.

Sullivan said she would reconsider the bail issue either after the preliminary hearing or if defense attorneys file written motions.

Arenas’ family declined to comment after the hearing.