Pacific War Veteran Wins A Second Gunfight In His Florida Jewelry Store

Arthur Lewis has seen more hand-to-hand combat in his eighties than many veterans did during all of World War II.
Arthur Lewis has seen more hand-to-hand combat in his eighties than many veterans did during all of  World War II.
Arthur Lewis has seen more hand-to-hand combat in his eighties than many veterans did during all of World War II.

89-year-old Arthur M. Lewis has seen quite a bit of combat.

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Sure, Mr. Lewis served in the Pacific during World War Two, but we’re talking about the two gun battles he’s fought with younger and stronger armed robbers in his Lake Park jewelry stores in recent years, including one this past Saturday afternoon in which he wrestled and shot an armed robber six times.

Arthur M. Lewis may be elderly, but criminals are learning the North Palm Beach man is no easy mark.

The 89-year-old decorated World War II veteran foiled an armed robbery attempt Saturday afternoon at his Lake Park jewelry business that left a 44-year-old suspect with six gunshot wounds, but no loot.

Lewis was working behind the counter at The Jewelry Exchange at 900 N. Federal Highway when he was approached by a gun-wielding man around 3 p.m., according to an arrest report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Lewis said he immediately grabbed the suspect’s revolver and pulled out a .38-caliber handgun from his own pocket.

The two men wrestled for several minutes and fired shots at each other. Despite battling someone half his age, Lewis got the best of it. A man identified by the sheriff’s office as Lennard Patrick Jervis, a Miramar resident, was shot six times by Lewis, including four times in the chest. Lewis’ left arm was grazed by a bullet, but he was otherwise unscathed.

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Mr Lewis fought and survived gun battled in this jewelry store in 2010, and again this week.
Mr Lewis fought and survived gun battles in this jewelry store in 2010, and again this past Saturday.

Both the criminal and his getaway driver have been arrested and charged. The newly ventilated felon has a record of 20 previous arrests.

Mr. Lewis survived a previous attempted robbery in 2010 that resulted in an exchange of gunfire with another criminal who was convicted of attempting to murder Lewis at point-blank range.

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