demetrius lockett nelson hayes.jpg

Police escort 18-year-old Demetrius Lockett, left, and 19-year-old Nelson Hayes, right, from Mobile Police Headquarters to waiting cars en route to Mobile County Metro Jail on Monday, June 9, 2014. The teen are accused of being part of a larger armed robbery ring which targeted Waffle House restaurants. (Theresa Seiger/tseiger@al.com)

MOBILE, Alabama -- Police on Monday arrested two teens accused of being part of a larger robbery ring which targeted Waffle House restaurants, said a Mobile Police Department spokeswoman.

Nelson Hayes, 19, and Demetrius Lockett, 18, face charges of first-degree robbery after police noticed an uptick in reported cases starting in March, said police spokeswoman Ashley Rains. Officers arrested Hayes on 12 counts of robbery while Lockett faces three.

Six Waffle House restaurants were robbed by the suspects or people involved in the robbery ring, Rains said. Investigators do not believe anyone involved worked at the restaurant chain.

"They knew there was case on the premises," Rains said. "Once they hit one, they figured they were all the same."

She said some of the restaurants were robbed multiple times.

Hayes and Lockett were apprehended on Monday morning after police responded to a reported robbery-in-progress at the Waffle House on Dauphin Island Parkway, Rains said.

Three suspects fled the scene in a stolen Dodge Dakota. The vehicle had been spotted at other robberies, police said.

Officers spotted the pickup truck on Interstate 65. They pursued it into the Prichard Police Department's jurisdiction, where officers joined the chase. The truck wrecked near the intersection of West Main Street and Branch Avenue and one of the suspects managed to escape, Rains said.

Hayes and Lockett were apprehended following an extensive search of the surrounding woods and swamp, according to police.

Police released the following list of locations where robberies have been attributed to the duo:

Waffle House 3651 Airport Blvd - Robbery First Degree

Waffle House 3428 Springhill Ave - Robbery First Degree

Waffle House 1754 Dauphin Island Pkwy - Robbery First Degree (3 counts)

Waffle House 3761 Government St - Robbery First Degree

Waffle House 3428 Springhill Ave - Robbery First Degree (2 counts)

Chevron 5454 Ziegler Blvd - Robbery First Degree

Waffle House 1754 Dauphin Island Pkwy - Robbery First Degree (2 counts)

Circle K 6111 Lott Rd (Mobile County Sheriff Office)

More arrests are expected in the case.

"We know from footage that we have suspects that we haven't identified yet," Rains said.

Anyone with information on the robberies can contact MPD at 251-208-7211.