Off the hook: Ex-prisoner evades prosecution in 2012 armed hold up of Fellsmere bait shop

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – A former state prisoner brought to the Indian River County Jail to face charges related to the 2012 armed hold up a Fellsmere bait shop is no longer being prosecuted for multiple felonies, court records show.

Frenel Romain, 32, of Oakland Park, who was being held in lieu of $1,530,000 bond, was released from custody Wednesday at 8:49 a.m., according to jail records.

He was transferred Aug. 24 from state prison to Indian River County nearly a dozen years after he and a Broward County man admitted to a string of armed robberies throughout South Florida.

Romain was accused of being with Jurvis Spells - both armed with handguns - on Feb. 29, 2012, when they robbed two customers and pistol whipped a clerk at a bait and tackle shop on 9 South Mulberry St. in Fellsmere.

Romain also was accused of robbing a Vero Beach man at gunpoint who was sitting inside a parked vehicle on Wilbur Avenue in Vero Beach.

Romain faced three counts of robbery with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

If he had been convicted as charged, Romain could have been sentenced up to life in prison, according to Assistant State Attorney William Long.

Statute of limitations scuttles state prosecution

Long said because an Indian River County Sheriff’s Office warrant issued in 2012 for Romain’s arrest was not served on him within a four-year statute of limitations, the state had to drop the charges contained in the warrant.

“The clock began on a four-year statute of limitations attached to the charges from the date of the crimes, not when a warrant is issued,” Long said. “After they committed their offenses here, they were arrested, prosecuted and sent to prison in Miami … and the State Attorney's office here never learned about that.”

The first time prosecutors here learned Romain was in prison, Long said, was in 2016 after he wrote a letter challenging the 2012 arrest warrant because it hadn’t been served on him since 2014, when he began serving a 12-year term.

“In a perfect world, any pending warrants would have been caught and we would have been notified but ultimately, that didn't happen,” he said. “And I can't tell you why that didn't happen, I don't have a specific answer.”

Long said he and sheriff’s officials have taken steps to “ensure nothing like this will ever happen again.”

“This is a horrible thing that has happened, because for all intent and purposes, Frenel Romain got away with it,” Long said. “And yes, he served prison time on other instances, but had we had the opportunity to prosecute him here … we would have put a strong case forward. So, this is incredibly unfortunate what happened.”

South Florida 'crime spree'

In March 2012, CBS News reported that Miami Beach Police believed Romain, Spells and another man were responsible for as many as 30 armed robberies throughout South Florida.

Once in police custody, Romain and Spells confessed to traveling from Miami Beach to Vero Beach around 2 a.m. on Feb. 29, 2012, where they robbed a man in Vero Beach then stopped at a Fellsmere bait and tackle store, according to an arrest affidavit.

Spells went inside the store to confront the clerk and Romain stayed outside and robbed two customers at gunpoint, according to statements recorded by Miami Beach police.

Romain confronted one man who was there to get ice for a cooler and another man looking to buy fish bait.

“He (Romain) said he pulled out his firearm and asked them for their wallets,” investigators reported.

Spells told investigators he struggled with the store clerk after he brandished a weapon and struck the clerk twice in the head with a gun.

The clerk ran out of the building and saw Romain and Spells flee in a Chevy Malibu.

Spells admitted to Miami Beach police detectives that he tried to shoot the clerk but the gun didn’t fire.

“He's supposed to be dead cuz I really tried to shoot him,” Spells told investigators. “I aimed at him, fired and nothing comes out. So I got mad and hit him across the head.”

Media reports in 2012 show Romain and Spells were arrested by Lauderhill police, who recovered a rented silver Chevy Malibu used to rob two women at a Publix parking garage. Four days later in Miami Beach, they targeted a group of French tourists who were robbed walking to a hotel.

'We can get in a lot of trouble': New details in high school football controversy

IRC school board books drama: Our community deserves better than this | Opinion

Long recently alerted the Fellsmere and Vero Beach victims that an “unforced error” in the case was forcing the state to dismiss charges against Romain.

“I'm a career prosecutor and it is my goal and drive in my employment to seek justice for victims and to protect our community. And candidly, this feels like a failure of the system, in particular on these victims, but also an unforced error that it is my goal to ensure never happens again.”

Spells, 33, who is serving a 16-year sentence related to convictions in five armed robberies in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, also will not face charges for the same reasons, Long said.

He’s scheduled to be released from prison in 2028, state records show.

“It is incredibly frustrating,” said Long, adding, “I have not seen anything like this happen before and it's my goal that it never happens again.”

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: State drops felony charges against man accused of 2012 armed hold up