New York City Police Department, New York
End of Watch: Saturday, July 14, 2007
Age: 23
Tour of Duty: 1 year, 6 months
Badge Number: 25169
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: July 9, 2007
Weapon Used: Handgun; .45 caliber
Suspect Info: Three charged with murder
Detective Russel Timoshenko succumbed to gunshot wounds inflicted five days earlier when he and his partner made a traffic stop.
The two officers were on patrol when they spotted a suspicious vehicle. A check of DMV records revealed that the license plate on the car belonged to another vehicle. The officers conducted a traffic stop at the corner of Lefferts and Rogers Avenues in Brooklyn. Unknown to the officers, the car they had stopped was stolen.
Detective Timoshenko approached the vehicle from the passenger side as his partner approached from the driver's side. As they drew near the car, one suspect opened fire with a .45 caliber handgun, striking Officer Timoshenko twice in the face. Another suspect opened fire on his partner with a 9mm handgun, striking him in the arm and chest. That officer was saved by his bullet-resistant vest. Despite his wounds, he was able to return fire and radio his location and a description of the vehicle to fellow officers.
Members of the Brooklyn South Homicide squad, who were in the area investigating an unrelated case, arrived on the scene within seconds and rushed Detective Timoshenko to Kings County Hospital.
The suspects fled but ditched their vehicle about five blocks from the shooting scene, leaving behind their .45 caliber handgun, 9mm handgun, and a loaded 9mm TEC-9. Investigators were able to lift a fingerprint from a box of chicken left in the vehicle, which led to the arrest of the driver the following day.
Two days later, detectives from the New York City Police Department, along with members of the Pennsylvania State Police, United States Marshals Service, and several other agencies, arrested both suspects on I-80 in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
All three suspects were charged with Aggravated Murder and other charges related to the murder of Detective Timoshenko and the wounding of his partner.
In December 2008, one suspect was found guilty of Aggravated Murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The second suspect was found not guilty of Aggravated Murder but found guilty of Criminal Possession of a Weapon. The trial of the third suspect ended in a mistrial, but he was convicted of Aggravated Murder in a second trial and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Detective Timoshenko had served with the New York City Police Department for 1 1/2 years and was assigned to the 71st Precinct. He is survived by his parents.
At his funeral, which over 30,000 people attended, Officer Timoshenko was posthumously promoted to Detective by the Mayor of New York City. In June 2008, he was posthumously awarded the New York City Police Department's Medal of Honor.
On June 7, 2009, Trooper Joshua Miller of the Pennsylvania State Police, who along with other members of his agency, assisted members of the New York City Police Department in the capture of two of the men who killed Detective Russel Timoshenko was shot and killed while pursuing a kidnapping suspect in Coolbaugh Township, Pennsylvania.