HAMLET — A Scotland County man is accused of trying to kill his ex-girlfriend by shooting into her car in Hamlet.
According to Maj. Hudson Chitwood of the Hamlet Police Department, a woman drove to the station around 7 a.m. Thursday morning with bullet holes in her windshield.
She told officers that her ex-boyfriend, 34-year-old Jeremy Tyrone Lewis, had chased her from Spring Street to Pine Street where he cut her off, Chitwood said.
When she tried to back up, Lewis allegedly fired into her vehicle and the victim ducked, narrowly escaping injury or death, according to Chitwood.
Investigators reportedly went to the scene, collecting bullet casings and interviewing witnesses and identified Lewis as the suspect.
Chitwood said one of the bullets penetrated the driver-side headrest.
Warrants were obtained for Lewis’ arrest and Chitwood said he was picked up by probation and parole officers in Scotland County Friday morning.
“This police department does not tolerate this behavior,” Chitwood said, “and we’ll be investigating any crimes like this until the suspects are caught.”
Lewis is charged with one count each of attempted murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and possession of a firearm by a felon.
His bond and court date are not known as of this writing.
Online court records show Lewis has a pending charge of assault on a female in Richmond County from earlier this year, and a charge of failing to return rental property in Scotland County from 2021.
Lewis is currently on probation, serving an 18-month suspended sentence following a June 27 conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon in Scotland County, according to records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
Also in June, Lewis pled guilty to two counts of first-degree assault and battery — originally attempted murder — as well as two counts of unlawful neglect of a child or helpless person and one count of malicious injury to animals or personal property in Marlboro County, according to South Carolina court records.
North Carolina records show Lewis was first convicted in 2011 of driving with a revoked license and failing to heed a light or siren in Scotland County.
The following year, he was convicted of possession of a controlled substance in Richmond County.
In 2017, records show Lewis was convicted of driving with a revoked license and giving fictitious information to a law enforcement officer in Robeson County.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
