Mount Vernon’s deputy commissioner of public safety Jennifer Lackard, 49, was arrested for allegedly being the getaway driver for her son, 20-year-old Chase Lackard, who is accused of shooting at a rival gang member.
Jennifer Lackard and her son Chase Lackard were arrested at their home on Boynton Avenue on Tuesday morning, with Chase accused of opening fire from a vehicle on June 29 behind the Bronx Criminal Courthouse at East 162nd Street and Grand Avenue.
Prosecutors said Jennifer Lackard gave her gun-toting son explicit instructions on how to carry out the would-be hit and told him via text on where to stand and other logistics.
“You can’t just sit directly outside,” the indictment quoted her texting to him.
“It has to be timed right.”
The texts traced a grim coordination on June 29 between mother and son as they mapped out the shooting.
Chase was allegedly aiming at another man who was with a rival gang, but did not strike anyone.
Jennifer Lackard is accused of being behind the wheel at the time and driving away to help him flee the scene, with prosecutors noting the shooting was caught on surveillance and there were text messages.
The arrest shattered what prosecutors described as an otherwise exemplary resume in criminal justice reform.
Jennifer had been a deputy police commissioner since 2020, when she was appointed by Mount Vernon mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard.
She previously served on Bronx Community Board 9 and founded several organizations helping formerly incarcerated people re-integrate into society.
Jennifer Lackard was appointed as deputy commissioner of wellness for the city of Mount Vernon in 2020 during the George Floyd protests.
When announcing the hire, Mayor Patterson-Howard said: “We are bringing on game-changers. We are bringing on leaders with incredible integrity and we’re going to serve Mount Vernon with excellence.”
James Lackard was arrested in North Carolina on federal drug trafficking charges in 2012, and Jennifer said she used her experiences during the time he was locked up to help mentor wives whose husbands are incarcerated; at the time, they co-owned a mental health and substance abuse treatment center called Ivy House, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison before being released in 2020.
By 2020, when Lackard got her Mount Vernon job, her own background was different.
In 2019, Jennifer, who had never previously served in law enforcement, attended and graduated from the NYPD’s Citizen Police Academy.
In court, her attorney said the picture painted by prosecutors is completely different from her life and career: “Ms. Lackard has for 20 years dedicated her professional life to the health and healing of impacted communities.”
The city of Mount Vernon released a statement saying Jennifer Lackard’s employment has been terminated.
The statement said: “The allegations are unrelated to her duties with the Mount Vernon Police Department and do not stem from any conduct associated with the Department or the performance of her official responsibilities.”
But the arrest already raised questions about the appointment pipeline and oversight.
Blacks in Law Enforcement of America called on Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard to accept responsibility for what the organization describes as a growing pattern of leadership failures within the Mount Vernon Police Department following the arrest of Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Lackard.
Lackard’s son has a long history entangled with the criminal justice system.
In November 2024, the son, who authorities say is a member of the “Slutty Gang,” was shot in Soundview by NYPD cops.
Officers responding to a clash at the Stevenson Commons residential tower on White Plains Road near Lafayette Ave. saw him waving a gun, police said at the time.
Chase was shot twice in the leg by police after he allegedly pointed his.9-mm pistol at officers, police said.
In the viral moment prosecutors documented in the June 29 indictment, Jennifer and her son traded messages that morning as they moved through the city toward the courthouse complex where the shooting would occur.
After Jennifer Lackard drove them from a Bronx residence to the courthouse that morning, she texted with her son about picking him up after they both left the vehicle and he went into the building.
She allegedly sent a text “You can’t just sit directly outside. It has to be timed right,” and prosecutors say the three drove around for nearly an hour before Chase allegedly fired several shots.
No one was hit in the shooting.
Jennifer Lackard, the former deputy commissioner of public safety, was arraigned Tuesday night on charges including attempted murder, conspiracy and criminal weapons possession.
Jennifer Lackard pleaded not guilty to the indictment.
Both are due back in court September 25.