NEWTON - Cooperation between Catawba and Caldwell investigators has resulted in two arrests in a pair of similar Dollar General robberies.
On Oct. 28, two armed men robbed the Dollar General at 6568 N.C. 16 in Conover. One had a knife and the other had a gun.
They demanded money. The clerk cooperated and they fled in a minivan with an undisclosed amount of cash.
On Jan. 11, a man armed with a baseball bat robbed a Dollar General store in Lenoir.
The thief walked into the store at 1721 Connelly Springs Road and demanded money. The clerk cooperated and the man left with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Nine days later, Morgan Scott Brown, 19, of Hickory turned himself in at the Catawba County Sheriff's Office on the Catawba County charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon.
He was arrested and jailed on a $15,000 secured bond.
Catawba County investigators contacted the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office about the similar cases and the suspects.
Detectives went to the Catawba County Detention Center Friday and interviewed Brown.
They got enough information to arrest him on the Lenoir charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon and to arrest an additional suspect.
Caldwell investigators arrested Cecil Ray Traylor Jr. in Conover. Traylor, 19, was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and jailed in Caldwell County under a $75,000 secured bond.
An additional $50,000 secured bond was set in place following Brown's second arrest.
"I want to thank the Investigators from Catawba County Sheriff's Office, their information led to the arrest of the two suspects," said Caldwell Sheriff Alan Jones.
Both suspects are scheduled to have their first Caldwell County court date Monday.
