Lewis faces trial
in officer’s slaying

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

A Philadelphia judge last week ordered John "Jordan" Lewis to stand trial for the Oct. 31 slaying of Northeast resident and Police Officer Chuck Cassidy as Lewis’ attorney refused to rule out a possible guilty plea by his client.
Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron reiterated his office’s intention to pursue the death penalty in the case.
Lewis, 21, admitted that he shot Cassidy when questioned by news reporters on camera shortly after the alleged gunman’s Nov. 6 capture in Miami. According to testimony at a two-day preliminary hearing last week, Lewis also confessed to relatives and acquaintances and said that he wanted to shoot another cop.
Speaking to reporters outside court, defense attorney Michael Coard conceded that a plea remains an option for Lewis.
More than 100 people packed the courtroom on both days, including the victim’s family, fellow police officers and relatives of the defendant. Cassidy is survived by his wife Judy, daughters Katie and Colby, and son John.
Lewis’ cousin, Hakim Glover, and a friend of Lewis’ mother were among the witnesses to testify on Friday, the final day of the hearing.
Glover, 24 also is a defendant in the case, having pleaded guilty on Jan. 7 to helping Lewis hide two guns and flee to Florida after the shooting. On the stand, Glover recalled Lewis was "a little bit hysterical" and "not in his right mind" in the days after the shooting. Glover said he told Lewis to flee the city; Lewis told him he "wanted to do something bad" and kill another police officer.
On Nov. 5, Glover drove Lewis to Wilmington, Del., to catch a bus to Miami. But first he made Lewis hand over two handguns. Lewis allegedly used one of the guns to kill Cassidy during a botched robbery at a West Oak Lane Dunkin’ Donuts and stole the other from the mortally wounded officer. Glover stashed the weapons at his home on the 3800 block of N. Franklin St.
Herbert Hill, a Philadelphia corrections officer and co-worker of Lewis’ mother, also testified that Lewis confessed to the Cassidy slaying and threatened to kill again.
Lewis said, "If the police come and get me, it’s going to be a mess," according to Hill, who testified that he advised Lewis to surrender to authorities. Hill later reported Lewis to police.
Employees of the Dunkin’ Donuts where the shooting occurred supplied sad eyewitness accounts of the Oct. 31 robbery and shooting. They said they knew Lewis as the same man who robbed the same shop, at Broad Street and 66th Avenue, a little over a month earlier.
A cashier, Linda Chan, testified that Lewis entered the shop at about 10:30 a.m., approached the counter, pointed a gun at her and fellow employees and demanded money. Moments later, Cassidy, who was on duty and in uniform, opened the front door. Lewis spun and shot the officer, who was crouching in the doorway, Chan said. The cashier saw Cassidy collapse to the pavement just outside the glass door.
The policeman suffered a head wound and died at 9:40 a.m. the following day at Albert Einstein Medical Center.
According to Chan and other employees, Lewis also robbed the doughnut shop at gunpoint on Sept. 18.
Cynthia Beckwith testified that she was leaving work at about 11 that morning when she passed Lewis outside the shop and noticed the distinctive hoodie that he wore. As she got into her car, she received a telephone call from another shop employee — her sister Gloria — that the place was being robbed.
A short time later, she saw Lewis flee the shop and run toward a nearby Pizza Hut, where he allegedly ditched the sweatshirt. Beckwith followed the suspect in her car while on the phone with a police operator.
Beckwith said she lost Lewis as he entered an alley near 16th and Cutler streets. A short time later, Cassidy showed up at the scene in response to her emergency call.
Beckwith said she didn’t know Cassidy personally, but she recognized him as a regular customer of the doughnut shop.
"He was four sugars and cream," the cashier said, recalling the officer’s routine coffee order.
Beckwith also was in the shop on Oct. 31 when Lewis again tried to rob the place. She heard the shooting from inside a restroom. After Lewis fled, she tried to comfort the wounded officer.
"I put a tissue against the wound and held it until police got there," she said.
At one telling point in her testimony, Beckwith spoke of being pressured not to testify in the case. Coard, the defense attorney, asked her to explain why she told police initially that she wasn’t sure if it was Lewis who shot Cassidy, whereas in court she pointed to the defendant without hesitation.
"To be perfectly honest, there’s a lot of people who don’t want me to be here today, but I’m trying to do the right thing for Officer Cassidy," she said. "It’s a sad situation all around."
In Thursday’s court session, nine witnesses testified about five robberies, including the one on Sept. 18, that prosecutors claim Lewis committed before the one that ended in Cassidy’s death.
Lewis allegedly robbed the Dunkin’ Donuts at 1820 Torresdale Ave. on Sept. 21, the Dunkin’ Donuts at 7500 Frankford Ave. on Oct. 13, Oasis Pizza at 4515 N. Fifth St. on Oct. 20 and Feltonville Pizza at 4812 Rising Sun Ave. on Oct. 25.
Among the nine witnesses, one appeared reluctant to identify the alleged robber in court, while another said he couldn’t identify him, although the defendant allegedly stole his wallet and hit him on the head during a heist.
When asked by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Selber to identify the man who robbed her, Luz Marina Alcate hesitated, took a deep breath, looked toward the ceiling and then pointed to Lewis. Alcate is the wife of the delivery driver at Feltonville Pizza. Both were on hand when Lewis allegedly entered the shop, pulled a gun, demanded money from the cash register and ripped off individual employees, too.
A cook in the same restaurant, Edgar Ceciliano Falla, testified that the robber pulled him from the kitchen into the dining area and whacked him on the head with a hard object. Though his co-workers all claimed they saw the gunman’s face, Falla said he could not identify the robber.
Following the hearing, Municipal Court Judge Francis J. Cosgrove remanded Lewis for trial on a general murder charge, as well as the six robberies and numerous related charges. The defendant is ineligible for bail because he is accused of a capital offense.
A Common Pleas Court arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 31.
Glover remains behind bars in lieu of $1 million bail and is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 27. He faces up to 14 years in prison. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com