Armando Nieves, age 47, of 23 Temple St., Apt. 309, Nashua

NASHUA – One morning last week, police got a call from the Nashua Garden, 121 Main St., reporting that the popular downtown sandwich shop had been broken into and money stolen sometime in the overnight hours.

Police viewed video segments from the shop’s security system and were able to see a male suspect, but they weren’t able to identify him, police said.

Four days later, police fielded a call from another popular downtown eatery, Main Street Gyro, 215 Main St., reporting a similar incident had taken place, also during the overnight hours, according to police.

This time, officers who viewed Main Street Gyro’s security system not only noted the suspect appeared to be the same one they saw in the Garden’s videos, but also identified him as their chief suspect in both incidents.

By the end of the day, detectives from the department’s Criminal Investigation Division had 47-year-old Armando Nieves in custody on two Class B felony counts of burglary.

Nieves, of 23 Temple St., Apt. 309, was booked on the charges then transported to Valley Street jail pending arraignment in Hillsborough County Superior Court South.

Police didn’t say how much money was taken from the two eateries, nor did they say whether either location or their contents were damaged during the alleged break-ins.

Meanwhile, the arrest isn’t the first for Nieves, who, according to story archives and police reports, was charged in connection with an alleged armed robbery in September 2011 and the burglary of another Main Street eatery in early 2015.

In the 2011 incident, Nieves was accused of approaching a person sitting on a bench in front of 168 Main St., brandishing a handgun and demanding the person’s wallet, police said at the time.

Nieves, who lived at 2 Rodean Drive, Apt. 302 at the time of his 2015 arrest, was accused of breaking into 7 Star Pizza, 235 Main St., during the overnight hours of Oct. 29, 2014, by allegedly forcing entry through a glass door, then stealing money from the cash register.

The outcome, or status, of those two cases wasn’t immediately known.

As for the recent burglaries Nieves is accused of committing, police ask that anyone with any additional information contact the department’s Crime Line at 589-1665.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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