NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A routine traffic stop led to the arrest of two suspects wanted in connection with a string of robberies in Manhattan, police said.

Officers found three tree grates, which had apparently been stolen, inside a van they pulled over for a broken brake light Wednesday.

Police said the driver confessed.

Since the start of the month, police had been investigating the thefts of nearly two dozen metal grates surrounding trees in Midtown and Restaurant Row.