Police say surveillance video from a South Nashville market helped detectives identify suspects tied to a robbery crew and recover cash, guns and drugs.
NASHVILLE, TN — Four men were arrested after a Wednesday night market robbery on Foster Avenue set off a fast-moving police investigation that ended with a vehicle stop, a short pursuit and searches that uncovered cash, narcotics and firearms, authorities said.
Metro Nashville Police said the case matters because detectives now believe the men may be connected to multiple recent commercial robberies in the city, raising the possibility of more charges as the investigation expands. Three of the suspects were booked on aggravated robbery counts after officers said a gun was fired during the holdup, while a fourth man was charged separately after drugs were found at a home searched as part of the case.
Police said the investigation began Wednesday night when detectives responded to a reported robbery at a market on Foster Avenue. According to authorities, a suspect fired a shot into the air or ceiling while demanding money from an employee, then fled with thousands of dollars in cash. Surveillance video from the business quickly became the key break in the case. Detectives said the footage helped them identify a Nissan Rogue believed to have been used as the getaway vehicle. Within a short time, officers found that SUV on Harding Place and tried to stop it. Police said Jose Luis Martinez, 54, was taken into custody during that stop before the vehicle sped away. With help from the department’s aviation unit, detectives tracked the Rogue until the driver and another passenger got out and ran. Officers then arrested Luis Martinez-Martinez, 34, and Rigoberto Martinez, 32, police said.
Investigators said evidence turned up quickly along the suspects’ path. Police reported finding a loaded handgun and cash believed to have been taken from the Foster Avenue market in the area where the men fled. Detectives also said Martinez-Martinez was wearing the same clothing seen in the robbery video, a detail police cited as part of the case tying him to the holdup. Officers recovered a large amount of cash during his arrest as well, according to police. A later search of Martinez-Martinez’s apartment on Harding Place led to the seizure of a shotgun, fentanyl and more than $15,000 in cash, authorities said. Based on what detectives learned from that search and the broader investigation, police then searched a home on Keeley Drive. There, officers said they found methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine. Ruben Perez Comacho, 33, who police said was the occupant of that home, was arrested and charged with three counts of drug possession.
Even with the four arrests, important parts of the case remain unresolved. Police have not publicly detailed how many robberies investigators believe may be linked to the group, nor have they laid out a full timeline of the other incidents they are reviewing. Authorities also have not released a court filing in the public statements that explains whether each suspect had a separate role in the Foster Avenue robbery or in any other cases under review. What police have said is that the three men associated with the Nissan Rogue were each charged with one count of aggravated robbery and jailed on $80,000 bond. That means detectives are treating the market holdup as the immediate chargeable event while they continue building out the larger case. The language used by police, calling the men a suspected serial robbery crew, suggests investigators believe the evidence goes beyond a single holdup, but officials have not yet publicly laid out the full scope.
The arrests also come at a moment when Nashville officials have been pointing to declines in major crime categories citywide, including robbery and burglary, even as police continue to focus on repeat offenders and crews accused of committing multiple crimes in a short span. That backdrop helps explain why detectives moved quickly once the surveillance video identified a vehicle. In robbery cases, investigators often rely on a mix of camera footage, witness statements, vehicle information and physical evidence discarded during flight. In this case, police said those pieces came together within hours. The use of aviation support was especially important because it allowed detectives to continue following the Rogue after it left the traffic stop on Harding Place. By the time the suspects were arrested, officers had not only detained the men but also recovered money, at least one loaded handgun and additional contraband from follow-up searches. Those recoveries may become central as prosecutors decide whether to pursue broader allegations.
The next steps are likely to unfold in court and in the detectives’ continuing case work. As of the police release, Jose Luis Martinez, Luis Martinez-Martinez and Rigoberto Martinez had each been charged with aggravated robbery in connection with the Foster Avenue holdup. Perez Comacho was charged with three counts of drug possession after the Keeley Drive search. Police have said additional charges are anticipated against the three robbery suspects in connection with multiple recent commercial robberies, but they have not yet said when those charges could be filed or whether other suspects could be identified. Prosecutors will need to review the evidence gathered from surveillance footage, the handgun and cash recovered along the flight path, the clothing police say matched the video and the items taken from the Harding Place apartment and Keeley Drive home. Future court appearances are expected as the men move through booking and bond proceedings, and additional affidavits could clarify the wider robbery pattern investigators say they are examining.
For now, the clearest picture of the case is a narrow one: a market employee faced an armed robbery, a shot was fired during the holdup, and video from the store gave detectives a path to follow. Police said that path led from Foster Avenue to Harding Place and then to two homes where more evidence was recovered. The scene described by investigators was one of quick escalation, from a single commercial robbery to a citywide investigative lead involving guns, fentanyl, methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine and stacks of cash. Officials have not released any statements from the suspects or defense attorneys, and there has been no public account yet from the employee who was robbed. Those missing voices leave the police version as the main account now in circulation, with the fuller legal picture still expected to emerge through charging documents and court records.
The case remained active as of Friday, with all four men in custody and police saying more charges could follow as detectives investigate possible links to other recent Nashville robberies.
Author note: Last updated April 11, 2026.