A man and a woman have been arrested and accused of multiple armed robberies last month at Hispanic grocery stores, including one in Gwinnett County, where the clerk was confronted while she had her baby with her.
Jairo Martinez-Villafranca, 37, and Belki Reyes-Cordova, 28, both of Norcross, were booked into the Gwinnett jail last week and remain there without bond, police said Monday.
In addition to two counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of certain crimes, each suspect also faces third-degree child cruelty charges since the 4-month-old was in a stroller behind the counter during the robbery at La Escondida Grocery Store.
Gwinnett detectives believe Martinez-Villafranca and Reyes-Cordova entered the store on Singleton Road on May 13 at about 9:45 a.m. with handguns, police spokesperson Cpl. Juan Madiedo said in a news release. The man confronted the clerk, provided a plastic bag and demanded all of the money from the register, police said.
Video released Monday appears to show the clerk open the door behind the counter for the man, who was wearing a navy blue hoodie, ripped blue jeans and black Nike shoes. He was followed into the store by a woman, who stood at the front door and looked outside, according to the incident report.
The clerk complied with the man’s demands and put all of the cash into the bag, but he demanded “more money, more money,” the report said.
The stroller can be seen just a few feet from the armed suspect.
“She pleaded with him, explaining that it was all the money she had, before handing the bag back to him,” an officer noted in the report.
After the suspects left the store, the clerk called her manager, who told officers he found her “distraught and crying.” Neither the woman nor her child was injured.
“It’s very uncomfortable to see a baby involved in this armed robbery. Just glad nobody was hurt,” Madiedo told Channel 2 Action News.
Earlier that morning, the pair was accused of a similar armed robbery at El Amigo Grocery Store on South Norcross Tucker Road, less than a mile away just across Jimmy Carter Boulevard.
In that video, the suspect, who is wearing different clothes, enters the store at about 4:45 a.m. and is followed by a woman. He appears to hand the clerk a black bag and repeatedly says “C’mon” to the man while demanding money. The clerk was not injured in the incident.
A few days later, two suspects matching the same descriptions committed an armed robbery in DeKalb County, police said. No details about that incident were released.
Officers canvassed the area near the first two robberies and were able to identify the suspect’s vehicle, the news release said. Utilizing Gwinnett’s network of cameras, investigators tracked down the car and took Martinez-Villafranca into custody, Madiedo said.
Detectives then executed a search warrant at an address associated with Martinez-Villafranca and identified Reyes-Cordova as the female suspect. Warrants were obtained for Reyes-Cordova, who was arrested Thursday.
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