A Massachusetts child rape suspect who allegedly embarked on a violent, cross-country crime spree has been indicted by a Worcester County Grand Jury.
Police say 26-year-old Gregory Lewis of Southbridge remains in custody in New York after he was arrested in the village of Fort Edward Tuesday night when his car crashed into a river.
Resident Chris Diehl rushed from his home to the water after hearing a Jeep crashed there with a person inside. But to his horror, Diehl accounts that a gun was pointed at his face by a scared Gregory Lewis. Diehl told NECN police got there soon after and arrested the Massachusetts man.
Another resident, Jennifer Burnette, took video on her cell phone of Lewis' engulfed Jeep before it was hauled out of the river. She described Fort Edward as a sleepy little village before a man police call a violent fugitive showed up.
Lewis had been a fugitive on the run since Sept. 15 when police say he cut off his own GPS monitoring ankle bracelet and fled from the Bay State.
Police say he returned to Southbridge days later, tied up his stepfather, and stole a gun and a car from the home before fleeing again. Lewis is suspected in a string of crimes including rape, assault, and robbery across several states from North Carolina to Colorado in the past six weeks.
Gregory has been charged with 17 felonies in connection to incidents in his hometown of Southbridge. He is charged with two counts of child rape aggravated by age difference, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child, indecent exposure, and receiving stolen property over $250.
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A second case presented to the grand jury led to a separate set of indictments including aggravated kidnapping, armed robbery, assault and battery on an elderly person, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a victim over 60, larceny from a person over 65, larceny of a firearm, possession of a firearm without a FID card, possession of ammunition without a FID card, larceny over $250, intimidation of a witness, and larceny of a motor vehicle.
Lewis will be arraigned on those charges in Worcester Superior Court upon his return to Massachusetts. Massachusetts State Police said he is expected to be in New York at least until Friday.
