for BigTrial.net
At approximately 10:15 a.m. Friday morning on Lincoln Drive, several police sources say, G. Lamar Stewart of the Philadelphia District Attorney's office used his lights and siren to pull over the driver of a Chevy Suburban whom Stewart claimed had allegedly cut him off in traffic.
Problem No. 1 was that Stewart, who is D.A. Larry Krasner's chief of community engagement, was not in uniform and was driving a unmarked police car, so he didn't have the authority to pull anyone over.
Problem No. 2 was that the driver of the Chevy Suburban turned out to be an FBI agent who flashed his badge at Stewart, and asked to see Stewart's ID.
Stewart, according to several police sources, responded by hopping in his black Ford Crown Vic and taking off, with the FBI agent in pursuit. On police radio, the FBI agent asked for assistance, saying he was a federal agent who needed police help in stopping a black Ford CrownVic that he was following.
When Stewart pulled over at a car wash on Wayne Avenue, several police sources said, he allegedly refused again to show his ID to the FBI agent. When several cops from the 14th District arrived at the scene, they found Stewart shouting at the agent, sources said. And when the cops asked to see Stewart's badge, he repeatedly refused to cooperate with them as well.
"He was very unprofessional," one cop source said.
Problem No. 3 was that Stewart was not carrying a gun because, according to several police sources, he had a protection from abuse order filed against him in Montgomery County by his ex-wife.
Any Philadelphia cop who has a PFA filed against him typically has to turn over his gun, and isn't even supposed to be out on the street.
But in Larry Krasner's D.A.'s office, which is rife with unethical and illegal behavior, there is zero accountability. So it will be interesting to see whether Stewart skates on this one, especially since the state attorney general's office is said to be investigating the incident, along with the FBI.
In the past, the A.G. has acted as a clearing house for Krasner's employees who were accused of breaking the law.
A spokesperson for the A.G. did not respond to a request for comment.
The alleged road rage incident involving Stewart took place on a winding section of Lincoln Drive near the intersection with Harvey Street. As both the FBI agent and Stewart were headed for the city, the FBI agent driving Chevy Suburban jumped over into the next lane and then tried to correct that by jumping back.
After Stewart pulled the FBI agent over, and the agent asked to see Stewart's ID, he took off, and was being pursued by the FBI agent and several local cops from the 14th Police District.
Stewart ended the chase by pulling over at a car wash in the 5800 block of Wayne Avenue.
The FBI agent, according to police sources, did everything by the book. First, he radioed the cops for assistance, rather than attempting to pull over Stewart by himself.
Next, the FBI agent remained calm during the argument with the Stewart, but repeatedly arguing that Stewart didn't have the power to pull him over.
When cops from the 14th District were questioning Stewart, they repeatedly asked him to identify himself but Stewart repeatedly refused.
Stewart wouldn't even make eye contact with any of the officers who were asking for his badge, police sources said. Instead, holding a hand-held police radio, Stewart repeatedly told the cops that he was calling their captain. And when he couldn't get the captain on the line, he asked to speak to an inspector.
One of the officers on the scene who knew Stewart was the person who finally identified him.
In his discussion with the cops, Stewart claimed that after he got cut off by the Suburban, he believed that he might be in a life-threatening situation, dealing with a driver who might be having a heart attack or a stroke.
But the cops saw it as a simple case of road rage. Followed by some bad behavior on the part of Stewart.
"It's a black eye for someone in the D.A.'s office to act like that," one police source said. "They're supposed to be the higher standard, the law of the land."
"He [Krasner] is preaching accountability with the police but he's not holding his own people accountable."
Stewart could not be reached for comment.
Spokespersons for the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
As he has done for the 22 months, Larry Krasner, who pledged to be open, honest and transparent as a "reform" D.A., did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Jane Roh nor Dustin Slaughter, the D.A.'s alleged spokespersons.
Cops familiar with Stewart, a former Philadelphia police officer, say that technically he is assigned as a county detective to the D.A.'s office, but comes and goes as he pleases, and is accountable to no one.
"He has no supervision," one cop said. "He does whatever he wants. He has carte blanche. Every week, he puts down whatever he wants for overtime. Nobody in the office can ask him anything."
According to police sources, the incident involving Stewart is under investigation by the FBI as well as the state attorney general's office.
This is the second time in two years that a top official in the D.A.'s office under Krasner has been accused in an alleged road rage incident.
.Last September, Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci, Krasner's former head of homicide, was accused of abusing his authority after he allegedly led a posse of cops in pursuit of a young black female motorist who had allegedly cut him off in traffic.
When Voci allegedly tried to pull the woman over, she took off. Voci and the cops pursued the woman to her home, where she was arrested and her car was impounded.
She's now suing the city, Voci and the Police Department for allegedly violating her civil rights.
On the campaign trail last month, Carlos Vega, who lost the Democratic primary for D.A. to Krasner, pointed out that after the alleged road rage incident, Voci kept his $160,000 a year job at the D.A.'s office.
"Where's the accountability in that office," Vega asked. "He [Voci] abused his power" by bringing a police inspector with him to arrest the black female motorist at her house. He [Voci] brought "the full force of the police department" down on that one person, Vega charged
Other employees in Krasner's office who have been accused of breaking the law include Assistant District Attorney Joseph Torda.
Last June, a stripper and self-proclaimed "e-slut"who used to be Torda's girlfriend accused Torda of assaulting and stealing porn from her, porn that allegedly featured Torda as a co-star.
But last November, the state attorney general's office decided not to charge Torda.
Next, there's Assistant District Attorney Dana Bazelon, who in May 2020 was arrested and charged with child endangerment after she left her four-year-old daughter unattended in a locked car.
In December, the state attorney general's office dropped the charges against Bazelon after she completed a parenting class and managed for six months not to get arrested again.
Last October, DeVonte' Douglass, Krasner's former gun violence counselor, shot and killed a male prostitute he had arranged a tryst with during office hours for $500. But on Feb. 25th, the A.G.'s office decided that Douglass acted in self defense when he shot and killed Vernon Harris, whom he met on Instagram.
The A.G.'s office, however, did arrest Douglass for soliciting a prostitute, possession of an instrument of crime, and misleading investigators about the facts surrounding the fatal shooting.
Two of Krasner's overzealous ADAs, Patricia Cummings and Rachel Black, have been formally admonished by judges for lying in court.
And next week, a judge will hear arguments on whether the D.A.'s office should be barred from prosecuting former Chief Inspector Carl Holmes, because Krasner himself hid personal conflicts of interest in the case.
Krasner's list of miscreants would not be complete without mentioning Adam Foss, a former Boston prosecutor and TED talk star who was brought in for nine weeks in 2018 to train Krasner's young prosecutors.
After Foss left town, he was publicly accused by several women of being a serial predator and rapist who was knowingly spreading STDs.
In Boston, Foss is the subject of a criminal investigation. Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia, Krasner has refused to divulge how much Foss was paid and whether he abused any of Krasner's young prosecutors.
G. Lamar Stewart joined the D.A.'s office in 2019 as assistant director of community engagement. He's an Army veteran and former Philadelphia police officer who's also the senior pastor of the Taylor Memorial Baptist Church in the Nicetown-Tioga section of Philadelphia.
At crime scenes, Stewart has been a familiar sight in the TV cameras at Krasner's side. Such as last March when Krasner, Stewart, and a couple of other top Krasner aides were turned away from Temple University Hospital, where Corporal James O'Connor died after being shot to death by a drug dealer that Krasner repeatedly let out of jail.
At the hospital, police locked arms to prevent Krasner from visiting O'Connor's family.
When he got promoted last year, Stewart spoke as an advocate for social justice.
Stewart's predecessor in that job in the D.A.'s office was Leigh Owens, a former convicted drug dealer who did time on Rikers Island, before serving as a deputy campaign director in Krasner's 2017 upstart campaign for D.A.
When Krasner won the election, Owens became the D.A.'s director of community engagement.
In a podcast interview, Owens described the job as being Krasner's liaison to the black community.
"He's a little awkward socially with people he doesn't know," Owens told the host of the Decarcerated podcast. "Especially with black folks."
As Owens explained it, his job was to be able to bring Krasner the great white hope "into those rooms" with black people, and to "validate him and be a buffer."
But now G. Lamar Stewart is a lighting rod for anyone who believes that Krasner doesn't hold his own people accountable for breaking the law.