Det. Chester Lake | |
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Law & Order character | |
First appearance | "Outsider" (season 8) |
Last appearance | "Cold" (season 9) |
Portrayed by | Adam Beach |
Time on show | 2007-2008 |
Seasons | 8, 9 |
Credited appearances | 21 episodes (total) |
Preceded by | Fin Tutuola (as junior detective) |
Information | |
Title | NYPD Detective |
Partner | Fin Tutuola |
Detective Chester Lake is a fictional character played by Adam Beach in the American crime drama television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC. Lake is the first detective of Native American descent on a Law & Order series. Lake is first seen during the eighth season working with the Brooklyn division of the New York Police Department's Special Victims Unit. At the end of the season, he transfers to the Manhattan SVU, where he is partnered with Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) during the ninth season. Lake is arrested in the season finale, "Cold", after he kills a fellow police officer.
Beach met series creator Dick Wolf while filming Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and signed on as a regular to the show shortly afterwards. However, it was quickly felt that there were too many detectives in the cast, and the character of Lake was written out after only one season. The character was unpopular with viewers, and reception of Lake was generally negative.
Lake is of Native American ancestry, Mohawk nation, and his family has lived in New York City for generations. Every male member of his family for the preceding three generations was an ironworker. At some point in the past, he was a foster child. He is a collector of rare books and often suffers from insomnia, which he tries to combat by taking nighttime walks through the city. Lake used to compete as an amateur mixed martial artist with the fight name "Naptime", but abandoned it as a career possibility after suffering an injury. Lake is first seen in the eighth season episode "Outsider" as a Brooklyn Special Victims Unit detective who helps Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) work a case involving an alleged rape at the college Fin's son is attending. In the season finale, "Screwed", Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) transfers Lake to Manhattan SVU to help relieve a heavy caseload while several of the detectives in the unit were being investigated. Lake is partnered with Tutuola when he arrives.