Robert Nicholas Harris, 36, and Yoniara Montoya Locklear, 45, were taken into custody at their Fayetteville home. They are being brought back to Wake County.
The break-ins, which began in 2023, had caused "significant concern and disruption for local business owners," Cary Police said.
The suspects face charges for break-ins at six Cary establishments:
- La Cocina at 100 Macgregor Pines Drive
- Totopos at 1388 Kildaire Farm Road
- Gonza at 525 New Waverly Place
- Brothers of NY Pizza at 3450 Kildaire Farm Road
- Cary Pub at 6454 Tryon Road
- Frida's Patio Mexican Restaurant at 3470 Kildaire Farm Road
For these break-ins, Harris and Locklear were charged with several counts of felony breaking and entering, habitual breaking and entering, safecracking, and larceny after breaking and entering, among other charges.
ABC11 spoke with Allison Cousins, the general manager of Gonza Tacos and Tequila, on Wednesday afternoon, and she said she was relieved to hear an arrest had been made. In the break-in at Gonza, the suspects got into the office but were not able to get into the safe.
Montoya and Harris, who are married, were the subjects of a more uplifting ABC11 story in 2021 when they opened the only vegan food truck in Fayetteville.
Fayetteville vegan food truck owner hopes to expand healthy eating choices for area
The ABC11 I-Team spent the day looking through court documents. A number of them showed this couple with similar charges from Raleigh to Cary and Morrisville.
The documents show what was allegedly stolen, including $8,000 from the safe of a Morrisville Mexican restaurant
"I go by Yoshi Vegan in the vegan world," Montoya said at the time. "One of the things that made me want to change my life was my kids."
She and her husband had just started the food truck called The Vegan Spot in Fayetteville
Cary Police arrest Fayetteville couple in numerous business break-ins
They have since expanded to a brick-and-mortar location on Murchison Road.
It seemed like an inspiring success story. But fast forward three years, and the couple is now charged with serious crimes across Wake County.
"For them to target small business owners, too, it's not fair," said Cousins.
ABC11 also spoke to her in November the day after she and five other businesses close by were broken into.
Surveillance pictures from there show a man with a crowbar outside and another person dressed in a disguise trying to get into the safe in the office.
Investigators allege that the man was Harris and Montoya was his accomplice.
"We're still looking into not only these five or six cases we had back in November, but some of our other cases to see if there's correlation there," said Cary Police Sgt. Kenric Alexander.
Court records also detail five businesses broken into in Wake Forest, including an Irish pub on South Main Street. In that case, the persons involved were not able to get into the safe.
In Raleigh, documents allege the couple broke into Capital Ford and took $200.
Then a break-in at Alpaca where more than $700 was stolen.
The biggest haul, according to documents, came from restaurants in Morrisville, including $8,000 from the safe at Mi Cancun on Chapel Hill Road.
About $5,000 was also taken from a safe at Full Moon Oyster Bar.
More charges are on the table
The break-ins remain under investigation and more charges in Cary are possible, police said.
"None of that is off the table. Every stone is being looked under," Alexander said. "We don't want to leave anything to chance. Just because we've captured them on this five. As great as that is, that may not be the end of it."
ABC11 asked Cary Police whether these crimes might be connected to other high-profile cases in Cary, including car break-ins and home break-ins. Police said they are still looking into it.
ABC11 reached out to the couple on social media and a phone number listed there on Wednesday night and did not hear back.
Suspect pleads for reduced bond, citing children
Locklear and Harris appeared virtually before a judge for the first time Thursday afternoon. Locklear faces 15 charges of conspiracy, while Harris faces more than 40 charges total, ranging from breaking and entering to conspiracy to safe cracking. Investigators allege the couple plotted to rip off more than a dozen businesses across Wake County, from independently-owned restaurants to a car dealership to the Target in Wake Forest.
"Why would you do something like that, especially to a small business? I hope they learn from it," said Cousins.
Cousins said she was shocked to learn that two restaurant owners had been arrested.
"That is a huge bummer, especially having someone come in, knows the struggles and on top of knowing the struggles, knows what to look for and how to target us, which is even more frustrating," Cousins said.
In her court appearance, Locklear asked a Wake County Judge to reduce her bond conditions, citing her family and restaurant in Fayetteville.
"I own a restaurant that I have to run, and I have three children that I'm trying to support," she said. "Right now, they're with my mom but my mom, she's sick and I don't know how much longer she'll be able to take care of them for me, and I don't know how much longer my sisters will be able to run my restaurant for me."
New charges in Morrisville
Also on Thursday afternoon, Morrisville Police announced that Harris and Locklear are now facing charges related to the breaking and entering of Mi Cancun Restaurant and Full Moon Oyster Bar. Both break-ins happened in November.
Harris and Locklear were charged with multiple counts of felony conspiracy to commit breaking and/or entering, felony conspiracy to commit felony larceny after breaking and/or entering, felony larceny after breaking and/or entering and felony safecracking.
Raleigh PD, Apex PD, Morrisville PD, and Wake Forest PD investigators assisted Cary with this case.
Anyone with additional information related to these break-ins is asked to please contact the Cary Police Department or Cary Crimestoppers at www.p3tips.com/1242 for anonymous reporting or call (919) 460-4636. Morrisville Police said the investigation is still ongoing and asked that anyone with additional information on their cases to please call the Morrisville Police Department (919) 463-1600 or visit Cary Crimestoppers.
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