The Genesee County Sheriff's Office this morning announced additional charges against a man who was released from custody in early December because of the new cashless bail system and since at least Jan. 1 has allegedly been involved in a crime spree in Batavia.
The new charges against 24-year-old Daniel Jon Lewis include eight counts of criminal possession of stolen property, 4th, 13 counts of criminal possession of stolen property, 5th, and unlawful possession of a personal identification number.
Deputies Jordan Alejandro and James Stack arrested Lewis this morning as the result of an investigation of an incident reported at 11:53 p.m., Jan. 24. On that date, Lewis was taken into custody following a foot pursuit in the Haven Lane area of the Town of Batavia and deputies received a report of a man trying to gain entry into vehicles in the area of Rollin Circle East.
When Lewis was taken into custody, he was allegedly found in possession of a number of items believed to have stolen from parked vehicles, including credit cards and a checking account number.
At the time of his arrest this morning, Lewis was being held in the Genesee County Jail on a robbery charge. Lewis is accused of using a knife to menace and take property from a person on Bank Street on New Year's Day. Lewis was charged two days ago with the robbery following an investigation. Under the bail reform law, robbery is a qualifying offense for bail, so unlike the other alleged crimes of January, authorities were able to hold Lewis.
The night before the alleged Jan. 24 incident, Lewis was charged with grand larceny for allegedly stealing a vehicle on Jan. 3 in the Town of Batavia. On that charge, Lewis was released on an appearance ticket.
On Jan. 25, a person stole a Spectrum work truck and following a pursuit on Oak Street, managed to evade capture. Chief Shawn Heubusch said Lewis is a person of interest in that incident.
On Dec. 6, Lewis entered a guilty plea to criminal possession of stolen property. The charge stemmed from his arrest in Pavilion earlier in 2019 where he and another person were found sleeping in a vehicle that contained a cache of stolen property, apparently taken from unlocked vehicles. He has not yet been sentenced on that charge but because of the bail reform law, Judge Charles Zambito released Lewis from custody pending his sentencing.
