Romell Lewis arrested days after being first person charged with Hennepin County's harsher carjacking law

Minnetonka residents call for change after violent carjacking

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Authorities have arrested a man who's the first person in Hennepin County to be charged with the newly-created carjacking felony.

Romell Roshode Lewis, 21, is accused of participating in a violent carjacking last month in the driveway of a family's Minnetonka home. Surveillance video shows a group of four assaulting a woman before taking her Porsche. The group also assaulted her young son.

RELATED: Family traumatized after thieves steal Porsche, assault boy in Minnetonka driveway

Minnetonka Police

Minnetonka police announced that Lewis was arrested Tuesday morning in a traffic stop in St. Paul. The arrest was a joint effort with the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office Carjacking and Auto Theft team.

Lewis is charged with first-degree carjacking, a new statute that matches the sentencing guidelines of third-degree murder, which carries a seven-year prison term. He's also charged with first-degree aggravated robbery, and burglary. He's being held in the Hennepin County Jail on $200,000 bail.

Police are still searching for three other suspects, who are all teenagers.

RELATED: Dozens pack Minnetonka City Council meeting after violent carjacking

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