PHOENIX (AZ Family) — Two brothers from the Valley will spend eight and a half years behind bars for assaulting street vendors in downtown Phoenix.

Dayron Eriberto Pérez González and his younger brother Kevin Carlos Pérez González obtained weapons in at least five cases in a single month and stole hundreds of dollars.

Prosecutors believe street vendors have become prime targets for robberies and assaults because of their fear of reporting crimes.

Community advocates are encouraging everyone this happened to to come forward to receive some semblance of justice.

“I think the focus of a lot of these criminals is on cash-rich businesses, where it’s opportunistic,” said Deputy County Attorney Jonathan Hutcheson, the prosecutor in the case.

According to court documents, the González brothers approached street vendors in a non-threatening manner.

“They asked for something or asked for change. That would cause the salesman to change his focus to prepare something or grab something and that’s usually when he pulled out the gun,” Hutcheson said.

The two brothers did the same thing at least five times and committed at least four robberies in a span of four days.

“Two of them were the same victim, a juvenile,” said Maricopa County Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell.

Video of the arrests shows both suspects being followed and detained by several undercover officers.

Court documents said police also found two guns in his car.

“They should not have had firearms or illegally possessed them and definitely used them to commit all of these armed robberies,” Hutcheson said.

José Guzmán is director of a nonprofit organization for crime victims and says many affected people have difficulty contacting the police for various reasons.

“This is their only job because they are undocumented,” he said. “They think they report, they catch you, they send them back to Mexico. “They have no opportunity to get paid.”

Gabriel González was not a victim of these suspects, but he was assaulted several times in his 21 years as a street vendor.

“It was around six, at least as far as I remember. But if I think about it, it was probably more,” he said.

He only filed a report once, but says it takes people standing up to make real change and safety for others.

“I didn’t see how the reports could help the community get the bandits out of the neighborhood,” he said.

In many of these reported cases, victims provided details about the suspects and their cars, which prosecutors say helped them and police in this case.

Guzmán works closely with victims, authorities and Silent Witness.

He asks that anyone who has been a victim contact him through his organization, Parents and Relatives of Crime Victims.

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