Texas Man Accused Of Bank Robberies Released After New Suspect Identified

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL) — A Texas man accused of two bank robberies in Lafayette last year has been released from prison after another suspect was arrested in Sulphur with evidence pointing to that person as the person responsible for those robberies.

Cpl. Paul Mouton, a Lafayette Police Department spokesperson, says Kimrick Lewis was arrested in September of last year after he was picked from a photo lineup and after being recognized in photos of the robbery.

In April of this year, while Lewis was in custody, a similar bank robbery occurred at one of the two banks in which Lewis was implicated. Mouton says investigators talked with the Assistant District Attorney, and they could not produce enough evidence to eliminate Lewis as the suspect in the earlier robberies. He remained in jail, Mouton says.

On Friday, though, Mouton says investigators were contacted by the Sulphur Police Department. 27-year-old Malcolm Jarmal Scott of Houston was arrested in connection with a pair of bank robberies there, Mouton says.

“Sulphur detectives indicated their suspect may have been involved with the Gulf Coast Bank robbery that occurred in April of 2012,” Mouton says.

Detectives from the Lafayette Police Department traveled to Sulphur Monday with a warrant for a DNA sample. After an investigative interview with Scott, Mouton says detectives now believe he is the one responsible for all of the bank robberies Lewis was accused of.

“Investigators immediately notified the Assistant District Attorney handling the case to begin proceeding regarding charges being dropped against Kimrick Lewis,” Mouton says.

Police will issue three arrest warrants today for Scott, Mouton says, and the case remains under investigation. All charges against Lewis have been dropped.