Accused Philadelphia cop killer whos employed by the city dodged prior cases amid police misconduct claims: DA
The Philadelphia city worker who heinously gunned down one police officer and left another critically wounded in an early Saturday morning ambush had a prior murder charge tossed when police tried to “torpedo” the investigation, the city’s woke district attorney claimed.DA Larry Krasner was forced to explain Tuesday why alleged cop killer Eric Lewis, 35, was allowed to walk the streets despite two previous violent cases — including a 2019 road-rage double shooting where he was charged with murder.
“The excellent prosecutors did everything humanly possible with a deeply troubled investigation,” the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement to FOX 29 Philadelphia. “A highly-respected judge was forced to find Lewis not guilty due to that troubling and deficient investigation.”The case unraveled before reaching trail after revelations that one of the investigating officers was secretly dating Lewis’ sister, according to Krasner, a progressive who was first elected in 2018.The rogue cop allegedly made up a phantom suspect named “Spice” to “torpedo his own testimony” and shield Lewis, Krasner said.As a result, Lewis was acquitted of those charges in 2023 following a two-day bench trial. The betrayal was so stunning that it prompted the judge to take the rare step of ordering an internal affairs review into the officers involved in the case, the district attorney said.“The judge is from a law enforcement family, that judge, in his whole career — and he’s highly respected by both sides — to the best of my knowledge has never sent police officers to be investigated by internal affairs,” Krasner claimed.Lewis also managed to dodge 2021 assault and weapons charges after the key witness and victim in that case died, according FOX 29.The city’s glaring failures vetting Lewis’ employment are now under intense scrutiny, as he was somehow employed by the Philadelphia Water Department at the time of Saturday’s deadly ambush.“We...