Man who fired at cops gets long stint behind bars
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A Collingdale man who opened fire on police officers serving an arrest warrant in 2014 has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison under a negotiated plea agreement.
Lamar James, 28, of the 100 block of Lafayette Avenue, had been facing nine counts each of attempted murder of a police officer and assault on a police officer, as well as 18 counts of aggravated assault and related charges.
Defense attorney Robert Keller said each attempted murder charge carried a mandatory minimum 20 years in prison. James instead pleaded to a single charge of aggravated assault under the deal worked out with Assistant District Attorney Thomas Lawrie and was given credit to his arrest date of Nov. 5, 2014.
Collingdale police officers and members of the Upper Darby SWAT team had arrived at James’s house at about 6 a.m. that day to serve an arrest warrant for an Oct. 23 shooting in Philadelphia.
The victim in that case was also a suspect in a home invasion at James’s residence Oct. 1, according to authorities. Keller said James’s father and cousin had been held at gun point with shotguns in that incident, and the invaders told them they would come back to kill them if they told anyone.
Police said that when they attempted to serve the warrant in the early morning of Oct. 23, James’s father, Tony Gale, bolted the door and James opened fire.
“There was a true defense to the commonwealth’s theory that he was trying to shoot police,” said Keller. “He told police right from the beginning that he thought it was these intruders from a month prior.”
One officer suffered a hand injury due to broken glass and another allegedly had a bullet ricochet off his helmet. Keller said he had precluded testimony about the helmet, however, because it could not be determined that the gouge was caused by a bullet.
Keller claimed there was some dispute of who fired first, but said his client fired three shots and the police responded by firing 50 rounds. No one was injured aside from the officer who sustained the cut.
James and his father were arrested. His mother was also taken into custody but later released. A .38-caliber Amscor revolver was discovered in a stereo speaker in the front bedroom, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The gun had been reported stolen in Collingdale in June 2012.
A jury had been selected and was prepared to go to trial this week. Keller said he was prepared to take the case to trial, but a shake-up with the jury composition led to additional negotiations and the eventual plea resolution.
“The fact that the commonwealth has made this offer to you and you were counseled, I’m sure, to take this offer – to me, it’s more than fair,” Common Pleas Court Judge Richard M. Cappelli told James prior to sentencing. “It’s surprisingly fair. I can honestly tell you I only would not have given this to you if you were convicted, I would not have even been able to give it to you.”
“I know we have police who are doing their job, doing their duty,” said Keller. “I know my client did not mean to do any harm to them and luckily no one was seriously hurt.”
The Philadelphia shooting case is still scheduled for trial Nov. 10, according to online court records. Gale, 45, is meanwhile scheduled for a bench trial before Cappelli Thursday on a single count of obstruction, a misdemeanor of the second degree.