QUEENS — A convict who is serving a lengthy sentence for his role in gunning down NYPD cop Russel Timoshenko during a car stop in Brooklyn can add another 25 years to his prison stint after he was convicted Monday of trying to kill a man during a robbery the day before the officer was shot.
Robert Ellis, 39 — who is serving 15 years on weapons charges for the July 2007 shooting death of Timoshenko — was found guilty by a Queens jury Monday for trying to kill the victim just one day before Timoshenko was murdered.
He was scheduled to be sentenced July 18, and faces up an additional 25 years in prison on the second degree murder, assault and weapons charges, according to the office of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
On July 8, 2007, Ellis and Dexter Bostic, who is awaiting trial, were allegedly joyriding in a stolen Porsche Cayenne SUV, the DA's Office said. At 5 a.m., they saw the then 20-year-old victim talking with a friend at the corner of Sutphin Boulevard and 109th Drive in Jamaica.
Ellis pulled over, and Bostic allegedly stepped from the vehicle, drew a silver .45-caliber handgun and started spraying bullets.
He hit the victim once in the leg, shattering his femur. As the wounded man lay on the ground, Bostic allegedly snatched $1,800 in cash, a chain and keys to the victim's vehicle, then fled with Ellis in the Porsche.
The next night, Ellis, Bostic and a third man, Lee Woods, were driving a stolen BMW in Brooklyn when they were pulled over by Timoshenko, 23, and his partner, Officer Herman Yan.
The traffic stop turned deadly when Bostic opened fire, killing Timoshenko and wounding Yan.
Bostic and Woods were sentenced in 2008 to life without parole for Timoshenko's murder. Ellis was acquitted of the killing, but convicted on gun charges.
