Trio Charged With First-Degree Murder in Police Shooting

Three suspects accused of shooting two police officers in Brooklyn were arraigned yesterday on charges of first-degree murder.

According to police, one of the men charged, Lee Woods, was driving a sport utility vehicle at the time of the shooting while the other men charged, Dexter Bostic and Robert Ellis, fired gunshots at the officers.

One of the officers, Russel Timoshenko, died Saturday, five days after he was shot twice in the face and neck when he and his partner, Herman Yan, approached the vehicle during a traffic stop in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.

At the arraignment yesterday, an attorney for Ellis, Daniella Eaddy, said her client was not one of the shooters. "We believe evidence will show that at the time of the shooting, my client was driving," Mrs. Eaddy said.

Woods's attorney, Patrick Megaro, also maintained that his client was not one of the triggermen.

Assistant District Attorney Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi requested that a DNA sample be taken immediately from Woods, who complied. Ms. Nicolazzi made a request for DNA samples from Bostic and Ellis in court on Friday.

Ellis, Woods, and Bostic did not speak and the courtroom remained quiet until the chained defendants were ordered held without bail and taken out. Upon their exit, the room erupted into applause, as hundreds of members of the New York Police Department stood, clapping, and cheering. Among the applauding audience of about 400 were Timoshenko's parents, who were seated in the front row.

"Their courage gives us courage," the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, Patrick Lynch, said of the Timoshenko family. "We said we will catch them, and we have. Now we will be here to make sure that they stay where they should be."

A wake for Timoshenko will be held today and tomorrow, followed by a funeral Thursday at I. J. Morris Funeral Home in Brooklyn.