Benny Lee Stewart

Benny Lee Stewart, 45, of 2921 1st St., Lehigh, remains in jail with no bond after he was charged in connection with a crime spree that began in the parking lot of the Lehigh Super Walmart.

Stewart faces several felony charges that stem from at least three parking lot incidents and the robbery of a 7-Eleven store.

The crimes occurred Nov.3 shortly after 10 p.m. when a man told sheriff’s investigators that he had been approached by two men while sitting in the Walmart parking lot on Lee Boulevard. He said one of the men pointed a gun at him through his driver’s side window and another approached through the passenger door and got inside.

One man demanded money and, when the victim told the two he didn’t have any, the man who came up to the car through the passenger’s door told the other suspect to shoot the victim.

Sheriff’s officials said the victim, having no money, told the suspects they could take his cell phone. Investigators said the victim pleaded for his life, thinking he may be shot.

He also told the man with the gun that he had a small child in the back seat.

Then, according to investigators, the two men approached another car the same way with the first man, the gunman, on the driver’s side and then the other on the passenger’s side.

Investigators said the second victim also told the two he had no money and asked the suspects not to kill him.

The second victim gave up his car for his own safety after the robber on one side of the car demanded the other shoot the victim.

The two men fled in the vehicle. Detectives investigating the case said that before they got out of the parking lot, they tried to snatch a purse near the front of the store.

However, they were not successful and one of the suspects hit his head on the car door.

Later, investigators said one of the two men robbed the 7-Eleven store, just a mile away on Sunshine Boulevard.

Again, the gunman pointed his weapon to at least one customer inside the store and demanded money and held clerks at gunpoint, and then ordered another man to the ground outside the store while the suspect fled.

An off-duty officer was able to contact the suspect the next day when Stewart asked him for gas money. Stewart has a long history with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office dating back to 1989, officials said.

Police are continuing their investigation and looking for the second suspect.

He is described as a white male, believed to be in his 30s or 40s, with a tall and thin to average build. He was wearing a white shirt and possibly blue colored jeans.

If you have any information about this incident and/or if you can identify the while suspect, you are encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIPS or (8477) and get up to a thousand dollar reward. You do not have to give your name and your information remains confidential and your name remains anonymous.