MINNETONKA, Minn. — A second man has been charged with two felonies in a Minnetonka carjacking that left a family shaken.
According to charges filed in Hennepin County, 18-year-old Derek Holmes was among a group of four that followed a Minnetonka woman to her home and stole her car, a crime that was caught on camera.
He faces charges of first-degree carjacking and first-degree burglary, both felonies.
Holmes was identified as the second suspect who attacked a woman and dragged her away from her vehicle. Another man, 21-year-old Romell Lewis, was charged with first-degree carjacking, aggravated robbery and burglary on Sept. 19.
The charges stem from the attempted carjacking on Aug. 17.
A warrant says a woman returned home around 10:50 a.m. and carried groceries into her Minnetonka home when she noticed several males wearing hoodies run up the driveway toward her SUV. While inside the home, the complaint says the woman "looked out the window and observed a grayish sedan occupied by multiple males pull up in front of her home." She then went out to the garage and saw a man trying to start her husband's vehicle.
When the vehicle wouldn't start, the warrant says the man ran back to the sedan. Holmes and Lewis jumped out of the sedan, attacked the woman and dragged her away from the vehicle, according to their individual charging documents. Prosecutors say the woman yelled out to her 13-year-old son to call the police. Court documents said the son exited the house with the phone in his hand when one of the suspects shoved the 13-year-old to the ground and attempted to take the phone.
Prosecutors say one of the suspects started dragging the teen while attempting to take the phone. During the assault, another suspect jumped in the woman's SUV and drove away. The sedan also sped off, nearly hitting the woman, according to the warrant.
Police located the suspects and began a pursuit of the stolen SUV and the sedan, however, the pursuit was terminated after officials said the two vehicles were fleeing at a high speed and weaving in and out of oncoming traffic.
Police tracked the stolen vehicle to a Walgreens in Edina about 30 minutes after the assault, but when officers arrived, the suspects fled.
According to the charging documents, law enforcement officers identified Holmes through surveillance video from Walgreens and their own prior contacts with him.
A warrant for Holmes' arrest has been issued.
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