Two men in custody, suspected in robberies,

Austin police have arrested two men in connection with at least two armed robberies this summer. But investigators think the men could have had a hand in several other robberies, including an attempted robbery in which an Austin Water worker was shot last month.

Police charged Rubin Elliot Colvin, 31, and Vernon Eugene Stewart, 41, in two September cases: an armed robbery in Northeast Austin on Sept. 1 and the Sept. 22 armed robbery of a man in East Austin near the Dairy Queen where the Austin Water worker was shot.

Stewart told police a third man was also involved. Police would not confirm whether the man was in custody.

The Austin Water employee who was shot was working outside the Dairy Queen, 5900 block of Manor Road, around 5 a.m. Sept. 22. He was using a jackhammer when he saw two men: one of them pointed a gun at him and demanded his money, the employee told police. The other man was identified by police as Stewart.

According to the affidavit: The employee told the armed man he didn’t have a wallet. The man said he would kill him if he didn’t give up his money, and the employee patted his clothes to show the man he didn’t have any money.

The man and the employee took a step toward each other, then the man shot at him, Dairy Queen surveillance video shows. The bullet grazed his face, and Stewart and the other robber took off running.

Stewart later told police that the armed man told him he didn’t want to shoot the worker, but that he thought he was trying to take the gun away, the affidavit says.

Immediately after the shooting, a witness was robbed at gunpoint, police said. He had been waiting at a nearby bus stop at the time.

Police say they also think Colvin and Stewart could be involved in these armed robbery cases, which all occurred early in the morning east of Interstate 35:

On July 21, a couple reported that someone had come into their bedroom in the middle of the night, demanded money from them, then shot them both. The wife was struck in the arm, and the husband was struck in the abdomen, according to witness reports.

On Aug. 13, a man was robbed in the 1200 block of Camino La Costa as he walked to his car to leave for work around 5:30 a.m. The robbers demanded his money in English and poor Spanish, the victim told police. After the victim gave the robbers his wallet, he said one of the robbers ran after a witness and robbed him at gunpoint as well.

On Sept. 1, a fifth victim reported being robbed at gunpoint around 6:30 a.m. while waiting for a ride outside his home in the 7000 block of Grand Canyon Drive, police said.

On Sept. 2, a sixth victim was robbed and shot while waiting for a ride to work around 5:15 a.m. near the 2000 block of Chesire Drive. When then robbers demanded his money at gunpoint, he turned and ran, the victim told police. The robbers caught him and struck him in the head with the pistol, then shot him in the leg, police said.