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.
Ellis allegedly told officers that Bostick was the shooter and that he was the driver, but investigators don't believe him. A source told the Daily News, "He's saying he's sorry for the cop and his family, he didn't know what was happening, sorry he was in the car, sorry for everything. Mostly, he's sorry he got caught." Instead, police believe the Ellis may have been the ringleader; the Times reports that Ellis, Bostick and Lee Woods, who police arrested on Tuesday and believe is the driver, all met while serving prison sentences and may have been involved with other crimes.
The media has been detailing how Bostick and Ellis were apprehended in the the Pennsylvania woods. A U.S. Marshal spotted Ellis after an NYPD dog picked up his scent. Authorities used Yan's and Timoshenko's handcuffs on Ellis and Bostick; The Daily News has some stats about the manhunt in a sidebar. For instance:
- Distance Bostick and Ellis traveled on foot from Monday to Wednesday: 15 miles
- Law enforcement agencies: 14
- Police dogs: 7
- Age of Scooby, the NYPD bloodhound that hunted Ellis: 5
- Police helicopters: 4
- Amount of cash convicts spent on supplies: $30.64
- Cans of tuna they bought: 16
- Weight of Dexter Bostick, who wasn't able to run away from cops: 230-plus pounds
- Weight of Robert Ellis, who was able to flee and briefly escape cops: 150 pounds
The NY Times has an article about the vigil Timoshenko's parents are keeping at his hospital bedside. The parents of Yevgeniy Marshalik, the auxiliary police officer killed earlier this year, visited them; the Marshaliks noted that the Timoshenkos are not upset with the hospital staff, in spite of other reports.
And if Timoshenko dies, it will become a murder case, raising questions about the death penalty. NY lawmakers are already asking Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver to "convene a special legislative session to pass a capital punishment law" since NY State does not have the death penalty. A Justice Department official told the Sun, "It's highly unlikely that this is going to become a federal case. It's a solid state case. Nicely packaged, and tightly wrapped. I would see no reason why it would go federal at this point."
Photographs of Robert Ellis (top) and Dexter Bostick by Matt Rourke/AP
