After Hours, NYPD Lieutenant Arrested Again for Drunk Driving

An NYPD lieutenant has been arrested for a second time for drunk driving after crashing into a parked car in Brooklyn over the weekend.

Lt. Donald Stewart, 43, a 22-year veteran of the security forces, was taken into custody at the 81st Precinct at around 4:53 a.m. Saturday and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, police said.

He was suspended without pay.

Officials declined to say where the crash occurred, but the NYPD’s 81st Precinct covers Stuyvesant Heights and parts of Crown Heights.

Stewart, a retired U.S. Marine Reserve Gunnery Sergeant, was previously arrested in 2014 after an investigation concluded he was driving while “under the influence of intoxicants” when he crashed into another parked car in Brooklyn.

According to police records, the first incident occurred on April 18, 2014, and Stewart was pulled over by fellow officer James Nielson in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area.

A police investigation found that Stewart had refused to take a breathalyzer test and had “consumed an intoxicant to the extent that the officer in question was unfit for duty.”

Nilson testified that he did not think the then sergeant was intoxicated.

However, he admitted that he had difficulty deciding whether Stewart was in fact sober or not, but claimed that he showed no favoritism to his fellow officer.

“If he wasn’t a police officer, I would say he’s under the legal limit,” Nilson told prosecutors, according to court documents.

Stewart was ultimately acquitted of the drunk driving charge in 2014, but was found guilty of a traffic violation for leaving the scene of the accident.

Following the 2014 incident, Stewart was suspended for 64 days and put on probation for a year.

By 2018, Stewart had risen through the ranks and is currently serving as a Special Operations Lieutenant in the 100th Precinct. Records show his salary last year was $212,000.

A Stewart representative could not be contacted for comment.