NEW YORK (AP) -- With one suspect already in custody, police intensified their search Tuesday for two other men wanted for the brazen shooting of two officers during a traffic stop of a stolen SUV.
1010 WINS AUDIO: Carol D'Auria Reports
Among the men 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 are parolees with long criminal records, police said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly identified the man under arrest as Lee Woods, who was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, criminal use of a firearm and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Officials said scores of investigators were 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 police department released mug shots of the men and announced a reward for information leading to their capture had reached $64,000.
Police said that Woods, 29, was arrested Monday at the Queens home of Bostic's sister, the mother of their child, and that he had numerous prior arrests for assault, weapons possession and other crimes. It wasn't clear if he had a lawyer.
One of the officers, Belarus-born Russel Timoshenko, 23, (pictured far left) remained in "very, very grave condition'' with a severe head wound, Kelly said. The second officer, saved by his bullet-resistant vest, was released from the hospital.
Mayor Michael 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 could meet Timoshenko'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. Authorities were still investigating the origin of the guns.
"The truth of the matter is these guys shouldn't have had guns,'' Bloomberg said.
Officer Herman Yan was released from the hospital Tuesday after suffering wounds to his chest and forearm. Police said it appeared that his bullet-resistant vest saved his life; Timoshenko 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 day care center at the intersection where the shooting took place captured grainy images of the officers approaching the stolen car. It also shows Timoshenko taking fire and falling backward, then Yan getting caught in a shootout, police said.
Ballistics evidence from the scene indicated that one of the occupants of the car fired twice at Timoshenko while another fired five times at his partner. Yan managed to get off a dozen shots before the BMW sped away, 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.
Top photo: Dexter Bostic left, Robert Ellis, right.
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