1 of 2 Cases Against Alleged ‘Rolex Bandit’ Thrown Out

Attempted robbery and assault charges were dismissed Tuesday against a computer salesman once accused of being the so-called “Rolex Bandit” after a judge ruled that the prosecution waited too long to inform the defense about another possible suspect.

In dismissing one of two cases pending against Frederick Lewis, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Jacqueline L. Weisberg said his lawyers should have been given the additional information before his preliminary hearing last Nov. 16.

By withholding the tip, which was received Nov. 12, Lewis’ attorneys were denied the right to conduct effective cross-examination, the judge said.

Lewis described Tuesday’s development as a “major victory.” But prosecutors said they plan to either refile the dismissed case or add the charges to the other case pending against him.

“It is not over for him, in that almost certainly we will refile,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Fred Wapner said.

Although authorities once suspected Lewis, 31, of as many as 16 West Los Angeles robberies, he was ultimately charged in only two.

In the case before Weisberg, he was accused of trying to take a Rolex watch from businessman Bilal Baroody at gunpoint last Oct. 27, as Baroody and his wife, Jacqueline, were returning to one of their Malibu residences.

Lewis was subsequently accused of the Rolex robbery of Stephen Salinger who was accosted at gunpoint in the garage of his Playa del Rey home. A preliminary hearing is set for May 26 on charges of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

The cases have drawn attention because Lewis’ attorneys have maintained from the outset that their client is a victim of mistaken identity and was arrested because he is black. The arrest also came under fire from the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

Lewis’ attorney, Charles L. Lindner, told the judge Tuesday that he did not learn until early December about a tip received by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s lieutenant. The lieutenant was told that another man, Marcel Crawford, might have confided to a third party that he committed the Baroody holdup.

Linder showed reporters photographs showing a strong resemblance between his client and Crawford. The two men also have similar builds.

The tip came from Jonathan Ash, an Encino attorney, who told authorities that Crawford had admitted the crime to a client of his, whom he refused to identify. Ash did not return a reporter’s telephone calls.

Crawford, 23, pleaded guilty Feb. 29 to robbing an engineer of his Rolex in an underground passageway connected to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center. Free on $16,000 bail, he failed to appear last Friday for sentencing.

Crawford’s attorney denied Tuesday that his client had anything to do with the Baroody incident.

“As far as I’m concerned, they’re just throwing my client’s name out to blow smoke,” he said.

In an interview, Lindner faulted investigators for failing to properly pursue the tip about Crawford.

“I would hope they wouldn’t refile the case without checking out this Crawford thing,” the attorney said.

But Sheriff’s Detective David Gates said he believed he had properly investigated the lead.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’ve more or less eliminated him (Crawford),” the detective said.

Gates said the Baroodys were shown 8 by 10-inch photographs of Crawford and Lewis and remained certain that Lewis is the man who attacked them.