Man in custody, 2 others sought in shooting of cops

(AP) - With one suspect already in custody, police intensified their search on Tuesday for two other men believed to be involved in the brutal shooting of two young officers during a traffic stop of a

News 12 Staff

Jul 10, 2007, 11:00 PM

Updated 6,281 days ago

Share:

(AP) - With one suspect already in custody, police intensified their search on Tuesday for two other men believed to be involved in the brutal shooting of two young officers during a traffic stop of a stolen SUV in Brooklyn.
Among the men being sought was a former employee of a Long Island car dealership where the BMW sport utility vehicle was stolen. He and the second missing man both are parolees with long criminal records, police said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, during a visit to Washington with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, identified the man already in custody as 29-year-old Lee Woods.
Officials said a small army of investigators was still looking for Dexter Bostic, 34, of Queens, the former dealership employee who is also known as Marcus Jackson and Dexter Bostick; and Robert J. Ellis, 34, of Queens. The department released mug shots of the men and announced that a reward for information leading to their capture had reached $64,000.
One of the officers, Belarus-born Russel Timshenko, 23, remained in "very, very grave condition" with a severe head wound, Kelly said.
Bloomberg - while lobbying with Kelly against rules restricting cities' access to federal data on the sources of illegal guns - said he believed supporters would change their view if they couldmeet Timshenko's parents, "who see their son lying in an operating room and now clinging to life."
Investigators have recovered three weapons they say were carried by the suspects: a .45-caliber handgun, a 9mm pistol and a Tec-9 automatic pistol.
"We're still developing information as to where the guns came from," Kelly said.
The second officer, Herman Yan, was in stable condition with wounds to the chest and forearm. Police said it appeared that his bullet-resistant vest saved his life; Timshenko also wore a vest.
The incident occurred at 2:30 a.m. Monday in Brooklyn's Crown Heights section after the two officers used a laptop computer in their marked patrol car to do a random check of the license plates on the BMW. After discovering the plates didn't match the car, they turned on their flashing lights and pulled the car over.
As the uniformed officers followed procedure by approaching from either side of the SUV, investigators believe two of the occupants simultaneously opened fire without warning, hitting Timoshenko first.
A security camera from a daycare center at the intersection where the shooting took place captured grainy images of the officers approaching the stolen car. It also shows Timoshenkotaking fire and falling backward, then Yan getting caught in a shootout, police said.
Detectives who were canvassing the area while investigating an unrelated double homicide heard the shots and stopped to help the officers. Other police cars arrived moments later and rushed the victims to the hospital.
Investigators later determined that the SUV, and the plates from the second vehicle, had been stolen from Five Towns Mitsubishi in Inwood, N.Y., on Long Island near the Queens border. Inside it were two .45-caliber shell casings and trash from a recent meal of fried chicken from a fast-food restaurant, police said.
Investigators also obtained footage from a second camera showing three men ducking into a driveway next to a building after ditching the stolen vehicle a few blocks from the shooting. The three guns were discovered behind the building.