Walter Yurkiw is a former New York City police officer who worked out of the 75th Precinct in East New York, Brooklyn, and became known as the “enforcer” in a crew of corrupt cops led by Michael Dowd. He was arrested in 1988 for robbing a Brooklyn bodega at gunpoint while off duty and was sent to state prison for what he later called “mayhem and corruption.”
An Enforcer in the 75th Precinct
Yurkiw joined the NYPD in 1985 and was assigned to the 75th Precinct the following year.1The New York Times. Officer Is Arrested in Robbery The precinct covered one of the deadliest patches of the city during the crack era, a neighborhood that regularly logged more than 100 murders a year and picked up the nickname “the killing fields.”2The New York Times. East New York Precinct No Murders
Yurkiw fell in with a group of officers who, instead of policing the drug trade, ran alongside it. According to testimony before the Mollen Commission, he took part with Michael Dowd, Jeffrey Guzzo, and Henry Guevara in armed robberies of rival drug dealers to benefit the narcotics gang the officers were protecting.3Delacorte Review. Broken
Inside the crew, Yurkiw was the muscle. Six feet five and roughly 290 pounds, he used his size to intimidate. In later interviews, he described going into buildings with an axe handle and said he rarely had to swing it more than once, because “they usually gave it up the first time. Or even before they got hit.”4NoBSNewsHour. Confessions of a Gangster Cop 3 He admitted dragging people into alleys for their money and drugs and to “hitting licks” on dealers’ stashes.
The 1988 Bodega Robbery
Yurkiw was 29 on the night of July 1, 1988, when he and two companions allegedly held up a bodega at 923 Livonia Avenue in East New York at gunpoint around 10:30 p.m. The group took roughly $950 in cash along with fireworks and groceries, then forced the store manager, Braulio Lugo, into a 1978 Lincoln Continental and drove him around the neighborhood for about 15 minutes before letting him go.5The New York Times. An Officer Is Held in Robbery of Bodega
The NYPD’s Internal Affairs Division arrested him as he reported for a midnight-to-8 a.m. shift. His car was recovered in the back yard of the 75th Precinct station house.1The New York Times. Officer Is Arrested in Robbery
Charges, Plea, and Prison
Prosecutors charged Yurkiw with first-degree robbery, second-degree kidnapping, criminal possession of stolen property, possession of cocaine and marijuana, and official misconduct. He was suspended without pay.1The New York Times. Officer Is Arrested in Robbery Facing a potential sentence of 33 years to life, he accepted a plea deal and was sent to state prison.4NoBSNewsHour. Confessions of a Gangster Cop 3
Where He Fit in the Dowd Scandal
Yurkiw’s arrest came years before the wider corruption at the 75th Precinct broke open. Dowd, later called “the dirtiest cop in New York history,” kept operating until May 6, 1992, when he and five other officers were arrested. Over six years the department had received 16 separate complaints about him, and senior officials repeatedly stalled investigations to keep scandal at bay.6The New York Times. Corruption in Uniform: The Dowd Case
The Mollen Commission, convened to examine that failure, named Yurkiw as one of Dowd’s associates who had been “stealing almost every opportunity that presented itself.”3Delacorte Review. Broken
Life After Prison
After his sentence, Yurkiw resurfaced in interviews about his years as a corrupt officer. In a 2023 conversation he summed up his view in three words: “Never trust the police.”7NoBSNewsHour. Confessions of a Gangster Cop His story is also told in the book Betrayal in Blue, which covers the 75th Precinct scandal.