A Bronx Indictment Just Charged Police Commissioner as Getaway Driver for Her Own Son

Mount Vernon's police commissioner built her reputation lecturing the public about safety.

Prosecutors say she was behind the wheel of the getaway car within seconds of the gunshots.

What she allegedly did next could send three members of one family to prison.

Jennifer Lackard Drove the Car While Her Son Opened Fire on a Rival Gang

Jennifer Lackard was the deputy commissioner of wellness for the Mount Vernon Police Department.

Her job title alone should tell you everything you need to know about how seriously that department takes accountability.

Prosecutors say her 20-year-old son Chase opened fire on a rival gang member near East 162nd Street and Grand Avenue late on June 29.

Nobody was hit.

Chase allegedly ran straight to his mother's car.

She hit the gas and drove off with him, prosecutors say.

That alone would be a serious charge for any parent.

But prosecutors say Jennifer Lackard didn't just drive.

Text messages buried in her own indictment show she was coaching the operation before her son ever pulled the trigger.

Chase texted her to be waiting outside the Bronx Criminal Courthouse the moment he was ready to run.

She allegedly asked him when.

Chase apparently told her the timing didn't matter.

Prosecutors say she corrected him, coaching him on exactly how to position the getaway car so it wouldn't draw attention.

That is not a mother's panicked reaction to a crisis.

That is a trained law enforcement official coaching a getaway before it happened.

Before stepping outside, prosecutors say Chase pulled a black mask over his face inside the courthouse.

Jennifer Lackard's husband, James Lackard, was reportedly also in the vehicle.

Investigators say the family swapped seats mid-flight, and Chase ditched his clothing in the back to keep police from identifying him.

All three now face attempted murder, conspiracy, and reckless endangerment charges.

Jennifer Lackard was fired within hours.

She pleaded not guilty and was released on $75,000 bail.

She's due back in court in late September.

Her attorney told reporters the picture prosecutors painted looks nothing like the woman he knows.

Prosecutors say the text messages and surveillance footage tell a very different story.

Mount Vernon's Fifth Arrest This Year Points to a Pattern Nobody in Albany Wants to Discuss

This is not the first time Mount Vernon's police department has made headlines for the wrong reasons.

Chase Lackard was shot by NYPD officers in November 2024 after he allegedly pointed a gun at police in the Bronx.

He was shot a second time back in January 2023, on a city bus, during a dispute police say involved gang signs.

His mother held a senior command position through both incidents.

The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation into Mount Vernon police in 2024, and investigators found the department routinely used excessive force and conducted unlawful strip searches.

This arrest reportedly marks the fifth time a Mount Vernon officer has been taken into custody this year alone.

One officer was accused of pocketing an $800,000 stolen check months before he ever put on the uniform.

Another was indicted for allegedly trafficking firearms to a street gang.

Mount Vernon leadership keeps telling reporters these are isolated incidents that predate each officer's hiring.

A department cannot keep saying that after the fifth arrest in a single year.

Somebody in that building is either not looking or not wanting to look.

A whistleblower cop spent years warning anyone who would listen that Mount Vernon's culture protected its own over the public.

Nobody in city hall wanted to hear it then.

They're hearing it now, one indictment at a time.

The Vetting Question Nobody at Mount Vernon Wanted to Ask About Their Own Deputy Commissioner

Forget the "isolated incident" spin for a second and look at what actually happened here.

A woman with direct access to police intelligence, radio traffic, and investigative protocols allegedly used every bit of that training to help her son beat a murder rap.

She didn't panic.

She used her training to protect her son instead of the public she swore to serve.

New York's revolving-door courts have spent years turning violent repeat offenders back onto the street, and Chase Lackard is a walking case study in what that produces.

Albany Democrats wrote the bail reform rules that helped make that revolving door possible.

Shot in 2023, shot again in 2024, indicted for attempted murder in 2026, and somehow still free enough to plan a courthouse ambush with his own mother behind the wheel.

Every parent in Mount Vernon deserves to know whether the people running their police department are protecting the neighborhood or protecting their own kids first.

Right now the honest answer looks like the second one.

Sources:

• Bob Hoge, "What?! High-Ranking NY Police Official Accused of Driving the Getaway Car for Her Gangbanger Son," RedState, August 4, 2026.
• Anders Hagstrom, "New York police official accused of driving getaway car for son in gang-related shooting," Fox News, August 4, 2026.
• "New York police official fired, charged as getaway driver in son's alleged Bronx shooting," Washington Times, August 4, 2026.