BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Authorities say two men accused of multiple armed robberies have now been arraigned.

We’re told the case may be linked to other robberies across Lehigh County.

Jeniel Rivera Gotay and Luis Vega-Gonzalez, are accused of committing three armed robberies in Bethlehem and are now in custody.

Investigators say the first robbery happened November 2nd at Jack’s on Linden Street. At the time, they say they were unaware another robbery had occurred in Allentown.

Captain William Audelo with the City of Bethlehem Police says, “Convenience store robberies aren’t overly common in Bethlehem. So sometimes they happen and sometimes it becomes pretty apparent that they’re going to be a string of robberies like this was.”

Police say the suspects returned to hit a second store on November 5th at Racetrack gas station also on Linden Street, and say it became clear they were using the same methods, items, and clothing.

“That’s when we really started to take this into the consideration of, okay, how many are they going to try to hit and what can we do to prevent and to catch them?” Captain Audelo says.

Bethlehem Police then set up a two-pronged strategy; preventative outreach to employees working overnight and investigating to gather evidence and track the suspects.

“Unfortunately for the victims, these suspects were horrible. I mean, they were violent towards them. Obviously just having a gun put into your face is terrifying enough, but they were assaulted. They were forced into closets, just horrible things,” Captain Audelo explains.

Officers say they tracked the suspects using surveillance and license plate readers.

Audelo says, “When we became aware of the other robberies occurring in other jurisdictions, while not good, it did build our case.”

During the third robbery back at Jack’s, undercover police moved in.

“They moved in on the suspects, and in an act of desperation, they decided to ram one of our police officers,” Audelo says. “They did total our vehicle, which isn’t a great thing, but the most important thing is that our officer is safe.”

Police say evidence recovered from the car connected the men to all three robberies.

Both Jeniel Rivera Gotay and Luis Vega-Gonzalez are being held on one million dollars bail each as police continue to investigate potential accomplices.