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# Montana ‘smash and grab’ suspects plead not guilty
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/main-street-merchant-duped-out-of-1-100/
- Published: 2003-10-06T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:01:53.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Crime, Montana, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

Three suspected burglars pleaded not guilty last week to prying the counters off a Montana Avenue jewelry store and stealing $100,000 worth of jewelry.

Manuel Garcia, 58, allegedly distracted the lone worker inside JJ Design at 1307 Montana Ave. on Sept. 25 while Ricardo Ratzke, 32, and Nohora Sierra, 46, allegedly took the goods. No one was injured.

They were stopped by police minutes later in a blue minivan at 11th Street and Georgina Avenue, where they were arrested and the jewelry was recovered, Santa Monica Police Department Lt. Frank Fabrega said.

All three pleaded not guilty at the Airport Courthouse near LAX last week. They are each charged with commercial burglary, grand theft and giving false information to police officers. All of them allegedly used an alias when first arrested.

A preliminary hearing has been set for the alleged robbers later this month. Sierra’s bail has been set at $1 million. The other two are being held without bail because of prior offenses.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 6, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/100603.pdf?ref=smdp.com)