2nd Suspect in Southington Carjacking Arrested

A second suspect was arrested on Monday for carjacking a Jeep in Southinton with a grandmother and two children in the vehicle last June, police said. 

Police said the incident started around 1:15 p.m. on June 18 when they were called to the People’s Bank inside Stop & Shop on North Main Street for a reported robbery. The two suspects took off in a red minivan. An officer spotted the vehicle and tried to stop it, but the suspects kept driving, police said.

According to police, the minivan suffered a flat tire, at which point the suspects pulled over at the Shell gas station at 212 Main St. One suspect, identified as Norman Renaldi, 44, of Meriden, was captured, but a second suspect, Lemar McCarthy, got into a Jeep with a woman and her two young grandchildren, age 3 and 6, in it and took off.

Renaldi was arrested on June 18 after fleeing the minivan at the gas station. McCarthy was arrested on Monday, months after the incident. 

The clerk that was working at the gas station told NBC Connecticut that he saw a man get out of a van and jump into a Jeep while the driver was pumping gas. 

The suspect, presumably McCarthy, left the woman and children at a commuter lot by exit 26 off Interstate 84. They were not injured and were reunited with the driver, police said.

Police were able to recover the money stolen during the robbery - which totaled $12,669.

On Monday, McCarthy was arrested and charged with three counts of kidnapping, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery involving an occupied vehicle and engaging police in pursuit. His warrant had a $750,000 court set bond. 

Renaldi was charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree larceny, criminal attempt to commit kidnapping, criminal attempt to commit robbery involving an occupied motor vehicle, engaging in pursuit, interfering with an officer, and illegal possession of narcotics. 

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