Detective Dillon H. Stewart

Dillon H. Stewart

Police Officer Dillon Stewart was shot and killed as he and his partner attempted to pull over a car.

Police Officer Stewart and his partner observed a vehicle go through a red light at the corner of Flatbush and Church Avenues in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn. The driver of the vehicle, which displayed stolen New Jersey license plates on it, refused to stop. At one point, the police car pulled alongside the stolen vehicle on its passenger side.

At that point, the suspect leaned over and began shooting. The suspect fired at least five times at the officers, shooting outside the passenger side window of his own car. One of the rounds struck Police Officer Stewart under his left arm and passed between the front and back panel of his bullet-resistant vest, and struck his heart.

Despite the wound, Police Officer Stewart continued the chase. The suspect sped to a basement garage on East 21st Street, about two blocks away. Two backup officers shot at the stolen vehicle as a mechanized metal gate at the garage entrance rolled down but were unable to get into the garage before the gate closed. By the time they were able to gain entry into the garage, the suspect had escaped through a window.

Police Officer Stewart was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he died six hours later from his wounds.

The suspect was later apprehended inside an apartment about a block from the garage. The 9mm handgun used to kill Police Officer Stewart was recovered outside the apartment building.

The suspect was later identified as the perpetrator who shot and wounded an off-duty New York City Police Officer during a botched robbery attempt on November 19, 2005. He was charged with first-degree murder for killing Police Officer Stewart and attempted murder for the shooting of the off-duty officer. In October 2007, the suspect was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Police Officer Stewart. In November 2007, the suspect was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Police Officer Stewart had served with the New York City Police Department for five years and was assigned to the 70th Precinct. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Detective on November 30, 2005, by the Police Commissioner. On June 15, 2006, he was posthumously awarded the New York City Police Department's Medal of Honor.

Police Officer Stewart is survived by his wife and two daughters.