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Suspect in Yorktown security guard’s murder arrested

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Posted at 6:15 AM, Nov 30, 2016
and last updated 2022-07-25 08:45:56-04

YORK COUNTY, Va - The York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office has arrested 26 year-old Coleston Ryan Lewis, who was wanted for fatally shooting a security guard  at the County Grill and Smokehouse.


Acting on a tip that Lewis was at a Newport News home off Amy Brooks Drive, the Sheriff's Office coordinated with Newport News Police and he was arrested shortly after 3:05 a.m. Wednesday.

Ryan Lewis

Coleston Ryan Lewis


Neighbors say Lewis lived there with his mom.


“I saw something around noon [on Tuesday]. The house was surrounded by police in vests with their guns drawn, all around the house," said a person who lives in the neighborhood where Lewis was arrested.


"There were a lot of unmarked vehicles, white police vehicles. They were surrounding all sides of the house. They were going in an out of the house. They were taking vehicles away.”


Hettche told News 3's Merris Badcock she and her husband once employed Lewis to trim some trees in their yard as a friendly neighborhood gesture.


"He seemed like a regular guy," Hettche said.

Neighbor off Amy Brooks Drive talk to News 3's Merris Badcock about the arrest.

Neighbor off Amy Brooks Drive talk to News 3's Merris Badcock about the arrest.


Lewis is part owner of Out On a Limb Tree Service, according to the company's website.


York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office officials say Lewis shot and killed the armed security guard as he was being escorted from an event being held in the parking lot of the County Grill and Smokehouse in the 1200 block of George Washington Memorial Highway. The shooting happened around 2 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.


Lt. Dennis Ivey with the YPSO tells us that the security guard was escorting Lewis from a tent party that was being held in the parking lot when the shooting happened.

The home off Amy Brooks Drive where Lewis was arrested. Neighbors say he lived there with his mom.

The home off Amy Brooks Drive where Lewis was arrested. Neighbors say he lived there with his mom.


After shooting and killing the security guard, Lewis fled the area on foot.


As he was running away, another armed security guard shot at Lewis but missed.


The victim has been identified as 42-year-old Richard Irvin. Authorities say he was working as a security guard for a private company that was hired by County Grill and Smokehouse for their event.


Court records show Lewis has been charged with multiple offenses in the past, including assault and battery, assault on law enforcement, malicious bodily injury, and several weapons charges - including possession of a concealed weapon (brass knuckles), and possession of a sawed-off gun.


Lewis is now being charged with murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony.