More Mugshots Turn Up Of Tragic Patriarch Troy Lewis Who Lost Five Children In A Fire, Including Disturbing (Possible) Charges Of "Intentionally Providing False Information," Uh huh....

 

Mugshots used under First Amendment Fair Comment and criticism, also JNS
blog believes the mere placement of a watermark on a public document does not
make it less a public document, also JNS blog asserted "public safety exception"
to copyright, and just to be safe JNS blog urges everybody to find great mugshot
pics at Mugshots Online; blog post by John Hoff

An anonymous commenter to this blog told me to head over to Mugshots Online and search under "Troy NMN Lewis" to see what turns up.

Two more mugshots turn up, with the date of birth and the now-familiar face of Troy Lewis. Lewis lost five of his seven children in a fire at 2818 Colfax Ave. N. The death of the children is undoubtedly a horrific tragedy but JNS blog is committed to asking tough questions about what happened particularly in light of the extensive criminal background of the father which, to any reasonable person, would throw some question on his credibility.  

Particularly this latest info...


On 2/17/2009 Troy Lewis (wearing a black shirt) was booked under charges of failing to register as a predatory sex offender and knowingly violating registration requirements OR providing false information to police.

Note the charge can be one or the other. The same statute appears to cover both. So it's not clear whether he was accused of deliberately and knowingly failing to register OR IF HE WAS ALSO ACCUSED OF LYING. Since so much hinges upon the truthfulness of Troy Lewis, a (possible) charge of this kind is both disturbing and highly relevant. Was he charged with LYING TO THE AUTHORITIES? Or MERELY trying to avoid registering as a predatory offender?

But wait. There's more. On 3/23/2012, Troy Lewis was charged with the same thing AGAIN, as follows:

F/SEX CRIME F PREDATORY OFFENDER- KNOWINGLY VIOLATES REGISTRATION REQ. OR INTENTIONALLY PROVIDES FALSE INFORMATION

What was different about this time? Well, it happened on a different date and he was wearing an orange shirt. Both of the mug shots were in Minneapolis.

It must be pointed out JNS blog is not the only one asking these questions. Increasingly, in North Minneapolis Facebook forums and private messages exchanged back and forth, tough and very uncomfortable questions are being asked independent of the mainstream media about the credibility of Troy Lewis.

One woman who is the mother of a child said if it was her child in the fire she'd be dead by his side, so how come five children are dead and two badly injured yet Troy Lewis has relatively few injuries? And the question of whether this guy is really a "Vietnam War vet" as stated by KARE is up in the air, as well. If Lewis was born in January of 1954 does that mean he managed to end up in Vietnam at the tail end of the war in 1972 or 1973 at the age of 18 or 19?

Is KARE just going to feed us that line about wartime service or will KARE actually investigate its truthfulness?

At the same time, I'm being told by somebody claiming to be a former resident of the upper unit of 2818 Colfax Ave. N. the apartment was very nice and the baseboard heaters all worked just fine and this blogger shouldn't be so critical of slumlord Paul Bertelson. Fair enough. Give me permission to share the photos and I will share them. I don't NEED your permission; you sent me something unsolicited, but I'm being polite.

Meanwhile, I know at least one mainstream media entity is trying to follow up on information published here (but first promulgated on a neighborhood Facebook forum by Lisa Clemons, the sister of loud and erratic activist Al Flowers) of the two surviving children being placed in a CPS protective hold. 

The wild ride continues and we all wait for some definite answers.