A few weeks ago came the sad news of the passing of Scooby, the heroic NYPD bloodhound who is best remembered for tracking down the killers in the Officer Russel Timoshenko shooting case in 2007. Today the Daily News gives us some background on the beloved pooch, and we found a video of the four-legged detective on duty—and off. Note the look of pure glee on his floppy face as he gallivants through an open field! more ›

The NYPD bloodhound who helped catch the killers in a gruesome 2007 cop shooting case has died, according to a police spokesman. Four years ago, the aptly named Scooby helped track down suspects Dexter Bostic and Robert Ellis in the woods of eastern Pennsylvania after they ran away from a police shootout that ultimately left Officer Russel Timoshenko dead. more ›

After his previous trial ended in a mistrial, today a jury found Lee Woods guilty of murder for the 2007 killing a police officer. Woods and two friends, Dexter Bostic and Robert Ellis were in a stolen car when Officers Russel Timoshenko and Herman Yan pulled them over; both cops were shot and Timoshenko died from his injuries. The three defendants were tried at the same time, but with different juries: Ellis was acquitted of murder (his jury believed he was the driver and not a shooter), outraging Timoshenko's family and the NYPD, while Bostic was found guilty and Woods' trial ended in mistrial when a juror had health problems. In Woods' second trial, his lawyer argued his client was the driver. Timoshenko's parents were thankful for the verdict. more ›

Yesterday, a judge sentenced Robert Ellis, who was acquitted last month in the 2007 murder of police officer Russel Timoshenko, to 15 years for weapons possession. Timoshenko was fatally shot when he and his partner stopped Ellis and two other men in a stolen car; jury did find Ellis guilty of the lesser weapons charge, while another jury found his friend Dexter Bostic guilty of murder and a mistral was called for third suspect Lee Woods. Timoshenko's mother had asked the judge to impose a 45-year sentence, noting, "For me and my family, only the death penalty would be justice for Russel. Unfortunately for me, the death penalty is not an option. more ›

Yesterday, juries in two separate cop killing cases came back with news that left the victims' families upset: Lee Woods, on trial for killing police officer Russel Timoshenko during a traffic stop, was granted a mistrial because one juror was ill while Lillo Brancato Jr., on trial for killing off-duty police officer Daniel Enchautegui, was found not guilty of murder. more ›

The third trial for the men accused of killing police officer Russel Timoshenko has ended in mistrial. According to the NY Post, "a female juror, who had reported health palpitations and high blood pressure on Friday morning, said that she was unable to resume deliberations until she underwent more tests." more ›

Yesterday, jurors found Dexter Bostic guilty of murder in the fatal shooting of police officer Russel Timoshenko. This was the second verdict in Timoshenko's killing; earlier this week, Bostic's friend Robert Ellis was found not guilty of murder (but guilty of weapons possession) while a third defendant, Lee Woods, is still awaiting his verdict. Bostic's lawyer, who said they would appeal, suggested outrage over Ellis's acquittal compelled jurors to find him guilty, but the Daily News noted how prosecutors had more evidence in this case: "His DNA on a picked-clean Popeyes chicken bone was a perfect match to DNA on the gun used to kill Timoshenko." Additionally, a witness said that Bostic didn't want to go back to jail just for gun possession (implying that's why he fired upon Timoshenko). When the slain cop's mother was asked if the verdict provided her with some sense of justice, Tatyana Timoshenko said, "For this case it does, but the previous one was disappointing." more ›

The jury deliberating the fate of Dexter Bostic, accused of shooting a police officer during a traffic stop in Brooklyn, found him guilty on all counts, including murder, today. On Wednesday, a jury found Bostic's friend, Robert Ellis, not guilty of murder, which shocked slain police officer Russel Timoshenko's family and colleagues. Bostic's lawyer said his client plans to appeal. A third defendant, Lee Woods, on trial (the three were tried together with three different juries) is awaiting his verdict. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg couldn't help but comment on the acquittal of Robert Ellis, who was on trial for the fatal shooting of police officer Russel Timoshenko (pictured). The Mayor said, "I don't want to criticize, but... inside I feel very strongly about it. There's something wrong here. A police officer [was] dedicating his life to protecting all of us. I found it very hard to understand how they could come up with the decision that they made." The Daily News' Errol Louis writes, "The jury's mind-boggling hair-splitting makes no sense." —Ellis was found guilty of weapons possession, yet not murder— "Some went overboard in venting their rage, like Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch, who referred to Ellis as a 'mongrel' after the verdict - an unfortunate display of the same dehumanizing impulse that leads criminals to fire on cops. The challenge for cops, activists, union bosses and the media is to resist the urge to let a single injustice define us." more ›

A jury acquitted a man of aggravated murder in the killing a police officer during a June 2007 traffic stop. The jury also found Robert Ellis not guilty of attempted murder (another cop was wounded) but he was found guilty on three counts of criminal possession of a weapon. more ›

took him to the shower room for no apparent reason. The Post reports she is being investigated for "undue familiarity" with Woods. more ›

A Rikers Island corrections officer is being investigated for possibly helping an accused cop killer try to escape from custody. The unidentified guard may have passed a handcuff key to Lee Woods, one of the men accused of gunning down Officer Russel Timoshenko a year ago during a traffic stop. The key was discovered in Woods' digestive tract when he was passed through a metal detector at the jail. more ›

In an extremely embarrassing incident for the Brooklyn DA's office, an audio technician taped over a statement made by a cop killer while in custody. The DA's office will now have to rely on a detective's notes taken during that statement and the videotape recorded during a follow-up interview with suspect Robert Ellis. more ›

Lawmakers are looking to toughen laws around tinted windows on automobiles. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum pointed out that police officer Russel Timoshenko was fatally shot when he approached a stolen SUV with tinted windows. And current State Senator Eric Adams (a retired police captain and a founder of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care) summed it up, "The criminal element does not use tinted windows to protect themselves from dangerous UV rays. They use them to protect their illegal activity." more ›

Today, the Daily News prints a heartbreaking letter from Tatyana and Leonid Timoshenko, the parents of police officer Russel Timoshenko who died after being shot on a July 9 traffic stop in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. The Timoshenkos, who immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus in 1993, thank the Kings County Hospital staff, NYPD, and "all of the people of New York and the entire nation who prayed with us." The News has a PDF of the letter here. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: A steam leak at 39th Street and Lexington in Manhattan, a car vs. building on Hoyt Avenue in Staten Island and an oil slick on Park Lane and 85th Road in Queens
• An unorthodox robbery in Brooklyn: a burly Hasidic Jewish man brandished a knife and threatened a woman in South Williamsburg.
• Defense lawyers for the men charged with shooting police officer Russel Timoshenko are wondering why Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes described their clients as "scum" in an interview
• Freak-out in brownstone Brooklyn: Someone is painting a brownstone white!
• Does Rudy hate video sharing? Former mayor Giuliani is skipping the YouTube debate
• Yet another reason to slow down when you're driving around in Douglaston: There have been deer spottings.
• The police officer indicted for reckless endangerment in the Sean Bell shooting is asking for his own trial. Earlier this week, Bell's fiancee filed a wrongful death suit against the city, NYPD and five officers involved; her lawyer says the lawsuit will be pursued after the trial.
• And the State Legislature finally voted to approve a commission to study congestion pricing.

Yesterday, the three men charged with first-degree murder of police officer Russel Timoshenko all pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn court. However, Dexter Bostick, Robert Ellis, and Lee Woods, who were also charged with a number of other crimes related to the July 9 traffic stop shooting, did not ask for bail. The Post and Daily News had the varying statements the men gave investigators:

Woods, 29, told detectives "I ain't going to jail for something I didn't do. I didn't shoot no cops, I was only driving. Fat boy [Bostic] was in the passenger seat and that faggot Roger [Ellis] was behind me." more ›

This morning, thousands of police officers and members of the community attended the funeral of Russel Timoshenko, a 23-year-old police officer shot during a traffic stop of a stolen SUV. Timoshenko, who died a few days after the shooting, was posthumously made a detective; Mayor Bloomberg explained it was "a small measure of our appreciation for the supreme sacrifice that Russel made, and to honor his life." more ›

One of the saddest images from yesterday were the parents of slain police officer Russel Timoshenko, weeping at Brooklyn criminal court after the arraignment of the three men accused of Timoshenko's murder. The suspects, Dexter Bostic, Robert Ellis, and Lee Woods, were arraigned last week on charges including attempted murder. It is believed that Bostic, firing from the front passenger seat, shot 23-year-old Timoshenko in the face and neck during a July 9 traffic stop (Ellis allegedly fired at police officer Herman Yan; Woods was the driver). Timoshenko had been on life support since the shooting and was declared dead on Saturday. more ›

Twenty-three-year-old police officer Russel Timoshenko died yesterday at King County Hospital, five days after being shot twice in the face during a Monday traffic stop in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Doctors took him off life support after finding he had no brain activity yesterday afternoon. KCH director of trauma service and surgical critical care, Dr. Robert Kurtz, was visibly upset as he reported Timoshenko's death. From Newsday:

Kurtz, who choked up, said the case "affected us emotionally as well as professionally." more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on West 24th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan, another shooting on Rockwell Place and Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn, and yet another shooting at 92 -35 215th Place in Queens.
• Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James' female acquaintance made an amazing amount of money by buying properties from the city and then flipping them for huge profits.
• Phone records reveal that an upstate teenage driver may have been responding to a text message "What are you doing?" sent by a friend, moments before she ran into oncoming traffic, killing herself and four other just-graduated-from-high school young women.
• After drifting off course and running aground near the Ambrose Channel in New York's lower bay, the oil tanker White Sea was finally floated and moved for repairs at high tide.
• Lenox Hill Hospital was the point of arrival for seven sets of twins this week on East 77th St. Girls: 8; Boys: 6; Healthy: 14!
• A Westchester store is charging $55 for less than a liter of water.
• The young man who was accused of attempting to molest a girl in Queens, and was scared off by an alert and intuitive pit bull who started barking like crazy in response to her cries, turned himself in to police.
• Former U.S. Senator from New York Al D'Amato is expecting a child with this new wife, who is almost 30 years his junior, (she's 41).
• NYPD Officer Russel Timoshenko died today from injuries sustained during a traffic stop early Monday morning, when he was shot twice in the face. He was 23 years old. We'll have further coverage tomorrow.

Hundreds of police officers headed to Brooklyn's criminal court for the arraignment of Dexter Bostic and Robert Ellis, suspected of shooting two Brooklyn police officers who had pulled over their stolen SUV during an early Monday morning traffic stop. Bostic and Ellis, who had been extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday, were held without bail. Neither man spoke during the arraignment, which formally charged them each with "two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault on a police officer, hindering prosecution, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence." Bostic was charged with violating his parole as well. more ›

Today, Dexter Bostick and Robert Ellis will be arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges related to the Monday shooting of two police officers during a traffic stop. Bostick and Ellis had fled NYC after the shooting, only to be captured days later in Pennsylvania. Yesterday, they were extradited from Pennsylvania, and lines of police officers watched them as they were escorted to and from the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn. Police officers are expected to appear at the courthouse also, in another display of solidarity with injured officers Herman Yan and Russel Timoshenko; Timoshenko continues to be in critical condition at Kings County Hospital after being shot twice in the face. more ›

The NYPD has announced that both suspects in the Brooklyn traffic stop shooting of two police officers have been captured. Last night, Dexter Bostic was arrested as he and the other suspect Robert Ellis were walking along Interstate 80 near Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. more ›

Police arrested one man but are still looking for two others involved with Monday's violent traffic stop in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. When police officers Russel Timoshenko and Herman Yan approached over a BMW SUV with stolen license plates, shots rang out from the car, injuring both officers. Twenty-nine-year-old Lee Woods was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault on a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon. The two other men being sought have criminal histories; from the NY Times:

Dexter Bostic, 34, one of those being sought, first went to state prison in 1990 for assault, robbery and sodomy, officials said. He got out in nine years, but went back for three more in 2001. On parole until 2009, he was working at a Long Island car dealership last week when his parole officer last visited him, officials said. more ›

The police department has launched a citywide dragnet to find suspects who fired at two police officers during a Brooklyn traffic stop early yesterday morning. 23-year-old police officer Russel Timoshenko was shot twice in the head while 26-year-old police officer Herman Yan was shot in the arm and chest. A surveillance video showed that the cops were shot before they had reached the driver and passengers in the car. The Daily News' Michael Daly describes:

Footage from the surveillance camera mounted outside the Little Red Riding Hood preschool shows the green BMW SUV pulling over. more ›

Early this morning, two police officers pulled over a BMW X5 SUV with stolen plates at the Lefferts and Rogers Avenue in Crown Heights. The driver or a passenger shot at the cops, and WNBC reports that 23-year-old police officer Russel Timoshenko (was hit twice in the face while 26-year-old police officer Herman Yan was shot in his bullet-proof vest and arm. Yan fired back and radioed for help. more ›