SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A Utah man was arrested in a stolen vehicle Monday, five months after he was arrested on a similar charge, and three months after he pleaded guilty and was jailed in the previous case.
Pastor James Lewis, who turned 24 in the Salt Lake County Jail on Tuesday, was stopped Monday at Redwood Road and Northwood Avenue by a Salt Lake City police officer.
“I stopped the stolen vehicle and found A/P (arrested person) in the driver’s seat,” says Lewis’ probable cause statement, filed by an SLCPD officer. “I confirmed the VIN and the stolen vehicle hit.
“A criminal records check showed AP had been recently arrested and charged with theft by receiving when stopped in a separate stolen vehicle. Based on this, the A/P should have known that the vehicle was stolen.”
Lewis was booked Monday on theft by receiving stolen property, a second-degree felony.
Lewis’ next most recent arrest, on March 4, was by a North Salt Lake police officer. In a June 14 plea deal that resulted in the dismissal of three lesser charges, Lewis pleaded guilty to theft by receiving stolen property, a second-degree felony.
Lewis was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with credit for 101 days served. He was ordered to be on probation for three years. If Lewis served 79 days, he would have been released Sept. 1.
In the new case filed Monday, Lewis was ordered held without bail.
