By Brian Zanzonico
The Elmont resident fell in love with Brooklyn when he moved with his sister, Sheryl Campbell-Julien, and grandmother Katie to the borough in 1980. Five years ago, he demonstrated his affection by giving up a promising career as an accountant for the New York City Police Department. He was assigned to the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn, where he became a decorated officer and posthumously promoted to detective.
The love was reciprocated Tuesday when 20,000 police officers, family members, friends and officials braved the numbing cold and packed Avenue D outside New Life Tabernacle Church in East Flatbush to pay their respects to the husband and father killed in the line of duty on Nov. 28.
"Dillon Stewart is a hero because of the way he died," Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said during the 2 1/2-hour funeral service. "But more importantly, he was a hero for the way he lived, did his job and reared his family."
Stewart, 35, and his wife, Leslyn, chose the Dutch Broadway section of Elmont to raise their daughters, 5-month-old Samantha and 6-year-old Alexis, a first-grader in the Elmont School District. Leslyn sobbed as she remembered the "thoughtful, caring, ambitious and resilient" man she married in that very church nine years ago.
"As a father he was playful," she said moments after receiving a minute-long standing ovation from the 1,500-plus mourners in the pews. "He taught by action and showed great leadership."
Campbell-Julien, born a year to the day before her brother, called him the greatest gift her mother, Winifred, ever gave her. "It's a gift I always cherished," she said. "He is my gift."
Stewart was patrolling East Flatbush in the early hours of Nov. 28 when, according to police, he and his partner, in an unmarked car, chased a driver who sped through a red light. When Stewart and officer Paul Lipka caught up to the 1990 Infiniti and pulled up beside it, its driver, Allen Cameron, 27, allegedly fired at least five shots through the passenger window of the officers' car, missing Lipka but hitting Stewart.
Not knowing he was injured, Stewart remained behind the wheel as the officers cornered the Infiniti on East 21st Street. There, according to police, Cameron got out of his car, and he and the officers exchanged gunfire before he managed to escape. Cameron was arrested nearby, at his girlfriend's Ocean Avenue apartment that morning. Police said the murder weapon was found outside the apartment building. Cameron is also a suspect in last month's mugging and shooting of off-duty police officer Wiener Philippe.
Lt. Manuel Gonzalez, one of Stewart's first commanding officers, had a stern warning for anyone with the intention of harming an officer. "Be afraid," he said. "We will continue the good fight in Dillon's name."
Traveling from afar for fallen cop
In addition to the dozens of relatives who flew up from Jamaica for the funeral, police officers from Boston, Connecticut, New Jersey and as far away as Hawaii, Guyana and Japan were among the sea of blue. Nassau County Police Commissioner James Lawrence and hundreds of Nassau police were also on hand, including some from the 5th Precinct, which protects Elmont.
"I've just come to pay my respects," said Officer Anthony Henry, who lives in Brooklyn.
Said Officer Natalie Coppola, also of the 5th Precinct: "It hits home any time you hear someone's been killed. We're all officers. We're all family."
New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who remembered Stewart as a man who worked a second job as a mall security guard to better support his growing family, said he "will not rest until his killer is prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
"He's a hero who gave his life protecting the people of this great city," Bloomberg said. "They'll never forget it."
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