Two charged in string of Raleigh robberies

Denzell Lamont Serrell, 20, and Christopher Raheem-Malik Lewis, 19, each face five counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and one count of kidnapping. Serrell is also charged with one count of assault by pointing a firearm.

Posted 9:28 p.m. Jul 17, 2015 — Updated 9:28 p.m. Jul 17, 2015

RALEIGH, N.C. — Raleigh police arrested two men Friday morning after a short chase and charged them in connection with a series of pre-dawn robberies.

Denzell Lamont Serrell, 20, and Christopher Raheem-Malik Lewis, 19, each face five counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and one count of kidnapping. Serrell is also charged with one count of assault by pointing a firearm.

Police officers said the crime spree began shortly after 2:30 a.m. at a hotel on Capital Boulevard. A family told police that an armed man forced his way into their room and stole a cellphone, before jumping in a dark sedan driven by a second man.

Two hours later, a man was robbed at gunpoint on Conquest Drive. He too described two suspects and a dark sedan.

At about 5:45 p.m., a man walking in the 4800 block of Hoyle Drive was robbed of his wallet, phone and bag.

Fifteen minutes later, a dark sedan pulled up beside a 65-year-old man walking on Calvary Drive. When the driver asked for directions, a second person approached the man from behind and stole his watch.

The final victim, a 33-year-old male was abducted from outside his Windy Hill Drive home, forced into a dark sedan and taken to an ATM. The man managed to break away from his captors and flag down police.

Officers used victim descriptions of the car and the suspects to connect the five crimes. When they spotted a car with the same description on Oak Forest Road near Capital Boulevard, they gave chase and cornered Serrell and Lewis near East Millbrook Road.

Both men were taken to the Wake County Detention Center.

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