A Queens, N.Y., man has been charged in connection with the shooting of two NYPD officers during a Brooklyn traffic stop Monday morning. Lee Woods, 29, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, aggravated assault, and weapons possession.
Authorities are still seeking two other suspects: Dexter Bostic, 34, and Robert Ellis, 34. The Post reports that it sources say Woods told investigators that Bostic shot Officer Russel Timoshenko and Ellis shot Officer Herman Yan.
The two young officers were shot when they effected a traffic stop in Crown Heights after the plate did not match on a BMW X5 SUV. Timoshenko remains in what Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called “very, very grave condition.” Yan who was wounded in the left forearm and shot in his vest, returned fire, reportedly pumping 14 rounds into the SUV. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Police say Bostic, also known as Marcus Jackson and Dexter Bostick, fled just one step ahead of a raid on his girlfriend’s home this morning. Police were alerted to Bostic’s possible involvement in the shooting when they overheard a phone call between the man and some of his friends that discussed the shooting and, according to the Post, “smuggling” the suspect out of New York. The call was picked up on a wiretap for an unrelated case. Police believe that Bostic is on the run out of state.
A $64,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the capture of Bostic and Ellis.
“These are very, very bad guys,” a police source told the Post. And their sheets appear to bear him out. Bostic is on parole for armed robbery. He has done time for rape as well. Ellis was convicted of the 1991 rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Police are also interested in Bostic, Ellis, and Woods in connection with other robberies and shootings in the area. Most significantly, they believe the three may be tied to the shooting of a Long Island man and his wife Friday, as the couple’s two children sat in the back seat.
