22-year-old arrested in connection to nearly 2 dozen robberies targeting Latino-owned businesses in the Triangle

Investigators believe a 22-year-old man is connected to nearly two dozen robberies across the Triangle.

Early Monday the Durham County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of 22-year-old Elmer Mejia Guardado. Investigators with the law enforcement agency, along with help from the Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill Police departments believe Guardado may be connected to robberies at multiple Latino-owned businesses dating back to October 2019, including one on Christmas Eve.

Friday, Guardado was arrested on Naples Place in Durham. In a press release, Durham County Sheriff's Office said investigators found clothing used in several robberies, cash, a cash register and other items related to these crimes inside the apartment.

RELATED: Cary Police release images of convenience store robbers who struck on Christmas Eve

Marcelo Ocampo, who owns Carniceria y Tortilleria on Highway 98, said he would have fought Guardado and another man if he was at the store when it was robbed. Surveillance video showed two men walking into the store on December 23 waving firearms and pointing them at a cashier, who complied. Documents show Guardado and another man got away with $7,409 from that one robbery. Investigators believe Guardado and the other man targeted another business the same day.

"I just wish (Guardado) the best," Ocampo said. "Hopefully he'll turn around and get educated and learn from his mistakes. Looks like it was more than one mistake."

Ocampo said he planned to give his employees a Christmas bonus, but due to the robbery was unable to do so.

Guardado is being held at the Durham County Detention Center under a $500,000 bond and is due back in court on January 27th.

The State Bureau of Investigations also assisted with this case.

On Tuesday, police announced Guardado was charged in six robberies including:

DPD Robbery Unit investigators are still working several leads from other robberies within the city limits and additional charges may be forthcoming on Guardado and additional suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves. CrimeStoppers has operators who speak English and Spanish.