The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) on Tuesday announced additional charges against a suspect already in custody on charges involving a violent Minnetonka carjacking in August where a woman and her son were attacked in their own driveway of their home.
Romell Roshode Lewis, 21, of St. Paul is now charged in at least 10 cases involving additional counts of burglary and high-end vehicle thefts from homes in Edina and Minnetonka.
The HCAO outlined in a press release nine additional cases they allege took place between July 16 to Aug. 30, 2023, in which they identified Lewis based on cellphone location data and a distinctive hooded sweatshirt connecting him to the incidents.
“Mr. Lewis appears responsible for a significant number of recent high-end motor vehicle thefts from the west metro,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “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 credited a collaboration between her office and law enforcement that resulted in the additional charges.
Among the new charges is a count of motor vehicle theft for the taking of the grey Mercedes that Lewis can be seen arriving and fleeing in during the carjacking in Minnetonka on Aug. 17, the press release said. Lewis is also suspected to have been involved in additional incidents that remain under investigation.
The new charges describe several vehicles taken from various homes or other locations in Edina and Minnetonka, including several Mercedes vehicles, a VW, a Lexus, and a Mazda — some with keys and other belongings left in the vehicles. In several of the incidents, the suspects were described as arriving in a white Audi which was believed to have been previously stolen out of Plymouth. Residents were home in many of the cases and some had briefly stepped away from their open garages when their vehicles were taken.
Craig Beason previously told Alpha News that his wife had just returned to their Minnetonka home from grocery shopping on Aug. 17 around 10:50 a.m. when she was carjacked by a group of young men. Her 13-year-old son was also attacked as he called 911. The suspects then tried to run both of them over with her car and the stolen car they arrived in.
A second suspect, 18-year-old Derek Sincere Holmes, was charged last week in relation to the August Minnetonka carjacking but is not yet in custody.
Charges say the suspects appear to have “chosen and followed” Beason’s wife back to her home. Lewis and Holmes have been charged under Minnesota’s enhanced carjacking penalties. At least four suspects were involved in the carjacking.
Alpha News will continue to follow developments in the cases.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
