Carjacking suspect Romell Lewis charged in 9 additional vehicle theft incidents
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Hennepin County Attorney's Office has added charges against Romell Roshode Lewis, who was earlier charged with a violent carjacking that was caught on camera in Minnetonka earlier this year.
In the Aug. 17 incident, surveillance video showed a group of four assaulting a woman before taking her Porsche. The group also assaulted her young son.
Lewis, 21, was arrested during a traffic stop in St. Paul some weeks later in connection with the incident. He was the first person in Hennepin County to be charged with the newly-created first-degree carjacking felony, a new statute that matches the sentencing guidelines of third-degree murder, which carries a second-year prison term.
Since these charges were filed, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says that investigators have linked him up with at least nine other cases of high-end vehicles being stolen, stretching from mid-July through the end of August.
Among the vehicles listed by the attorney's office as having been allegedly stolen by Lewis were more than one Mercedes, multiple Audis, a BMW, a Lexus, and others.
Moriarty said that among the pieces of evidence that helped link these cases were the GPS locations of Lewis's phone during the time frames of the various thefts, along with "his distinctive hooded sweatshirt."
"While no weapons were involved, these were brazen incidents, any of which could have turned violent if an unsuspecting homeowner happened upon Mr. Lewis, like happened in Minnetonka on August 17 when a homeowner and her son were assaulted," Moriarty said. "These additional charges were possible because of the hard work and significant collaboration between our attorneys and local law enforcement."
Lewis next appears in court Monday, Oct. 16.
