Cop arrested for trying to get payoff from suspect
A Philadelphia police officer accused of extorting a suspect he'd arrested was himself arrested this morning.
A Philadelphia police officer accused of extorting a suspect he'd arrested was himself arrested this morning.
Jonathan Lazarde, 27, a five-year veteran who was assigned to Olney's 35th District before he resigned April 21, allegedly had arrested a man on a gun charge - and then offered not to attend any court proceedings to ensure an acquittal if the suspect paid him $3,000.
The suspect instead reported the extortion try to Internal Affairs investigators, who set up a sting operation on April 10 in which they caught Lazarde allegedly pocketing $5,000 in marked bills. During their seven-week probe, detectives documented the cop's interactions with the suspect in phone and text messages and recorded the money exchange, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Lazarde was charged today with bribery, theft by extortion and criminal use of a communication facility, all felonies. He turned himself in to Internal Affairs this morning.
Daily News reporter David Gambacorta, who first reported the allegations against Lazarde on April 12, found that Lazarde was eyed by Internal Affairs in a possible theft case two years ago. In that case, James Moses, 49, claimed that $100 in cash that he was carrying went missing after he was searched during a pedestrian stop July 7, 2011, by a cop who looked like Lazarde. Lazarde told Internal Affairs investigators that he didn't remember searching Moses, but police records showed that he had. The allegation was not sustained.
