Cassidy suspect
was pretty busy

John "Jordan" Lewis, charged with the Oct. 31 fatal shooting of Philadelphia Police Officer Charles Cassidy, didn’t have much of an arrest record prior to the murder, but authorities now say that Lewis was a very busy man in the weeks leading up to the slaying.
On Nov. 19, police brought Lewis back to Philadelphia to face more criminal charges stemming from five armed robberies in the North and Northeast sections of the city in September and October.
Lewis, of the 800 block of W. Roosevelt Blvd., is being held in prison in Lehigh County pending his preliminary hearing in the murder case.
One of the five heists occurred Sept. 18 at the Dunkin’ Donuts at 6620 N. Broad St. That’s the same doughnut shop where Lewis allegedly gunned down Cassidy on Halloween morning as the officer unknowingly walked in on another robbery attempt there.
Lewis allegedly shot Cassidy in the head as the officer entered the front door of the shop. The assailant then grabbed the fatally injured officer’s gun and fled. Cassidy died the next day. Police in Miami, Fla., captured Lewis at a homeless shelter there on Nov. 6.
According to Philadelphia police, Lewis had developed a pattern of gunpoint robberies in the weeks leading up to the Cassidy shooting.
The suspect allegedly struck at two other Dunkin’ Donuts — at 1820 Torresdale Ave. on Sept. 21 and at 7500 Frankford Ave. on Oct. 13 — as well as Oasis Pizza, at 4515 N. Fifth St., on Oct. 20 and Feltonville Pizza, at 4812 Rising Sun Ave., on Oct. 25.
In each case, Lewis pointed a gun at store employees and demanded money, police claim.
In connection with those crimes, he has been charged with five counts of robbery, weapons violations, possessing an instrument of crime and assault.
District Attorney Lynne Abraham has yet to announce whether her office intends to pursue the death penalty in the murder case against Lewis. The case meets at least two criteria for death penalty consideration, the DA has said. ••